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Celebrating 8/10 Day!

8/10/23 | The Weekly | by Eric Wakeling

    Dear Calvary Family,

    Happy 8/10 Day!

    If you’ve been around Calvary for at least a year, you’ve likely heard me or someone talk about 8/10 Day and God Joy. Well, today is the day! It happens at least once a year - twice if you count October 8.

    The whole basis of this is Nehemiah 8:10 - the verse that culminates with the famous phrase,

    "the joy of the Lord is your strength."

    In Nehemiah 8, the people of Israel have returned from exile and were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but they were also rebuilding their faith in God. The priests called the people to stand outside and listen to the Scriptures read aloud to them for half of the day. Just hearing the words of the Torah (law) caused the people to start weeping. I think it was a healthy form of guilt or conviction that caused them to cry as they heard the Bible read to them.

    Nehemiah and the priests did an interesting thing here. They didn’t leave the people to cry. They actually told the people not to cry. They told them to celebrate. Celebrate guilt? Sort of, but really, it’s to celebrate their redemption, their forgiveness.

    Conviction leads to repentance, which leads to grace, which leads to forgiveness.

    That’s what they were told to celebrate.

    Nehemiah 8:10 NASB 95 in full says,

    “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet,
    and send portions to him who has nothing prepared;
    for this day is holy to our Lord.
    Do not be grieved,
    for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

    So in light of the verse being “8:10” we celebrate 8/10 Day by eating the fat, drinking the sweet, sharing with others, and sharing the story of our redemption. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is our strength.

    I encourage you to celebrate in some way today by eating a rich feast; but much more importantly, by considering with whom you can share the story of God’s grace and forgiveness. Then do it! Share it! Celebrate it!

    You can find out more about all of this at CalvaryLife.org/GodJoy.

    And I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we celebrate God’s Word and God’s grace together.

    May the Lord bless you and keep you,
    Eric Wakeling