Exodus 5:1
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'”
In our nose-to-the-grindstone utilitarian culture, one must always provide practical reasons for doing what one does. In approaching modern day Pharaohs we must always be careful to phrase our requests so as to make sure that the god of the Bottom Line is satisfied. We need time off “so we can rest up and be more productive” or because we need to time to achieve some sensible, practical, utilitarian goal like cleaning the gutters. It is typical that the God of Israel essentially tells the most powerful man in the world that He wants the children of Israel to be freed so they can have a party. This festal aspect of life is sorely neglected in our world but is still enshrined in important place: the Sabbath. Today, hold a feast — a little Easter — and celebrate the God, not of the Bottom Line, but of the Highest Heaven.
