Daily Devotional For Monday, May 5, 2025
Merry Monday Southside. Today is sort of a National Holiday for those of Latino birth and heritage. It is called “Cinco De Mayo.” While it is not the day Mexico celebrates its independence, which is September 16, it is a holiday to celebrate their resistance that eventually led to their independence. In America we have similar holidays such as Veterans’ Day, D-Day and Memorial Day. While July 4 is our Independence Day, we Americans love to celebrate our freedoms.
Every year on March 26, we celebrate as a family when we brought Emmie home from Bulgaria. We have done this for 10 straight years. It is just as important to us as her birthday. We make a big deal out of it and what God did for us. We have hanging in my home office in a frame, her certificate of US citizenship as a visual reminder of what God did.
Do you ever set aside a day each year to celebrate God freeing you from sin, giving you salvation and eternal life? The reasons I am asking are several. First, we celebrate days such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and promotions all the time. We make big deals out of them and for good reason. Why not do the same with your spiritual liberation day? In this case, you’re celebrating God, not yourself. You’re finding ways to thank God for His love, grace, forgiveness, mercy and salvation. It’s your “Spiritual Birthday.” Celebrate it.
Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation” (NASB). If you can’t remember the exact day, you can “guesstimate” it. Or, if you rededicated your life to Christ and know that day or the approximation of that date, celebrate it. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Hebrews and the Jews to celebrate their relationship to God through 3 major festivals: Unleavened Bread/Passover (Spring), Weeks/Pentecost (Spring 49 days after Passover) and Booth/tents (Fall). Each of these festivals had a purpose and a specific time of the year they were to be celebrated.
As with most festivals and holidays, over time, the Jews corrupted them. The Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter have been corrupted with pagan ideology. There are many things the devil is good at doing and one of them is taking what God says and distorting it as he did in the Garden of Eden. Celebrating our “spiritual birthday” is something good. Why? We are celebrating not what we did, but what Christ did for us!
Assignment: Take some time to put down or “guesstimate” when your “spiritual birthday” was. Then remind yourself how different your life is now because of what Christ did then. Get creative and come up with a visual that reminds you of this regularly. The Bible is clear that God’s people forget Him and what He does for us rather quickly. This is why God ordered the Jews to celebrate Passover, Pentecost and Booths. If you find yourself struggling, invite some family and friends to help. Then each year, celebrate that day for the glory of God.
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 5:8-10, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (9) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (10) For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, thank You for saving my life. Without You I would be lost and on my way to hell. I don’t deserve Your salvation to me but I want to celebrate You and what You have done and are continuing to do for me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly