Our national holidays have become meaningless to us. They do little more than give us an extended weekend break from the grind of life.

This is September. We look back to July 4 as a day of thanksgiving for the gift of freedom. We look forward to Thanksgiving as a day, when in the tradition of the Pilgrims, we express our gratitude for God’s gracious provisions for daily life.

The people of ancient Bethel established a day of fasting to lament the fall of Judah and destruction of the temple. This holiday was celebrated for seventy years. Now with the temple of Zerubbabel being half way completed they came to Jerusalem to ask the priests and the prophets if they should continue this fasting tradition (Zech 7).

The answer they received was unexpected.

”When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? And when you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?”

So, rather than answering their question, God through the prophet repeats instructions given consistently through the centuries:

“Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother…do not oppress the widow or the orphan…do not devise evil in your hearts against one another” (7:9).

God then warns the men of Bethel,

“They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law…’And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen’, says the Lord of hosts” (7:12-13).

What did we do on July 4? Most of us recreated ourselves to exhaustion and then settled back to watch a fireworks display without ever reflecting on the meaning of those fireworks. The work of God through the sacrifice, determination and the extraordinary providential preparation of our forefathers and the circumstances that brought forth one nation under God at best was a fleeting thought.

Thanksgiving Day will be filled with cooking, eating and watching football games. I can remember forty years ago a pyramid of three 18 inch televisions stack in the den so the men of the household could simultaneously keep tabs on three games. The only thing that has changed for most households of middle class America is the level of the technology. Many households will not even offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the feast on their own table yet alone for the goodness of God in daily life.

Our national holidays have become meaningless to us. They do little more than give us an extended weekend break from the grind of life. We find little refreshment because all we seek is refreshment. We feed no passion for freedom and worship because we pursue personal pleasure. We do not humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so we do not experience his exaltation. Instead many in their anxiety seek after strange gods even as the Israelites did.

If we fail to appreciate and share the gifts of God, we will lose the gifts of God. Setting aside days for remembrance is good. The practice has biblical precedence. But, daily living with humility before God and compassion towards others is better. Doing both is best!

Howard Eyrich is a minister in the PCA and currently serves as Pastor of Counseling Ministries at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. He is the author of the best selling pre-marital counseling guide Three To Get Ready, as well as Totally Sufficient and Curing the Heart both in 2nd editions. He and his wife, Pamela, have two children and eight grandchildren.