How to Prepare for Your Best Feast

Most everyone has heard the statement “practice makes perfect,” which is often said to people who want to master a musical instrument or excel at sports. It is used as an encouragement to become better by doing something over and over again.

There is a version of this saying that goes even further: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” This quote is from legendary football coach Vince Lombardi. He was head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers and led the team to three NFL championships and two victories in Super Bowls I and II (1967 and 1968). Biography.com summarized why he is still talked about today: “Because of his success, he became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win.”

Coach Lombardi’s quote applies to mastery of physical tasks. When you strive for perfection in rehearsals and practices, you can later execute the task when it truly matters.

Indeed, perfection in sports and music is a high bar, yet Christians have an even higher standard to maintain.

Matthew 5:48 states that individuals are to become “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

The Father is a perfect Being. Trying to become like God on our own steam is unthinkable—impossible! Yet He does not leave us to do this alone. He gives us many gifts to allow us to become more like Him.

For example, when we sin, He offers forgiveness and repentance. He gives us His Holy Spirit, which allows us to overcome and prevent repeatedly making the same mistakes. He is re-creating His character in us so that, over time, our thoughts and actions mirror His.

But the Father also gives us valuable opportunities to practice His Way. One of these is a highlight of the year: the Feast of Tabernacles. During this annual commanded assembly, we have an opportunity to accelerate our growth through fellowship, serving and taking in daily spiritual messages. This fall festival is a time that pictures God’s soon-coming Kingdom. It is an essential training period for Christians on their way to becoming kings and priests (I Pet. 2:9; Ex. 19:6).

As exciting and important as the Feast is, just think, it allows only eight days out of the year to practice becoming “perfect” as God. You might think this is not nearly enough time to prepare for the Kingdom.

Yet there is one more built-in training period God provides that not only prepares us for His Kingdom, it also allows us to practice for the fall festival. The weekly Sabbath is an opportunity to achieve both.

By working to perfect our keeping of the Sabbath, we will be better prepared to get the most out of the fall Holy Day season and beyond.

Commanded to Gather

All over the world, people come together for a host of reasons. These can be for weddings, baby showers, educational seminars, congressional sessions, or even entertainment like concerts or sporting events. These gatherings have a certain level of importance. But weekly gatherings on the seventh day are far more significant for God’s people.

The Bible reveals how incredibly special this day is in God’s eyes. In Mark 2:28, Jesus Christ explained that He is “Lord of the Sabbath.” The Greek word used for Lord is kurios, which means master, owner or possessor. Combining this with the fact that we are bought with a great price (I Cor. 6:20), we can state that God wants His possession—His people—to properly keep the day He possesses.

Actually, all of the Holy Days are God’s possession. In Leviticus 23 this is made plain. Read verse 2: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts” (note the possessive pronoun used here). This chapter contains a list of all of God’s feasts. Yet notice in verse 3 that He lists the Sabbath first!

Exodus 31:13 is another key verse. Here God calls the weekly and annual Holy Days “My Sabbaths.” Again, note the possessive pronoun “My” and the plural for “Sabbaths.”

In Leviticus 23, the word convocation is translated from the Hebrew word miqra, which means “something called out, a reading, a recitation, a sacred assembly, and also a rehearsal.”

In the New Testament, God commands us to not forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25). In this verse, the word assembling can also be translated “a gathering together in one place, a complete collection.”

Put the Feast of Tabernacles into this equation. God wants us all to assemble together at the sites He has placed His name (Deut. 14:23). He wants everyone who is able to be in attendance there—a complete collection! Of course, there are exceptions to this requirement, including those dealing with debilitating illness or a recent childbirth, but these are few and far between.

As much as we assemble for the Sabbath in order to be considered God’s people, we also need to assemble for the Feast of Tabernacles.

Essential Planning

Success for both the weekly Sabbath and the fall festival require planning so that we can experience them in decency and order (I Cor. 14:40). God expects us to be servants worthy to be rulers over His household (Matt. 24:45). The Revised Standard Version puts the last part of the verse this way: “To give them their food at the proper time.” So, being a wise and faithful servant implies that we have good time management.

Allow this quote, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, to motivate you: “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”

Come up with a to-do list that you can use on the day before the Sabbath, the preparation day (Ex. 16:5), to ensure you will be able to keep the Sabbath holy.

Some important items to add to the list: buy potluck food and prepare if possible, shine shoes, set aside clothes for the day, and fill up your car with gas. For every Sabbath that you realize you forgot about something, add it to the list for next week!

In addition, though the Sabbath is a rest day, it involves meticulous time management as would the other days of the week. Think through the schedule of the day before it begins: What time is sunset Friday night? What time must I wake up to ensure I am ready and prepared for services? What time must I leave my house to get to the hall at least 30 minutes before services start? What are we doing after services—any planned activities? What time does the Sabbath end, and what can I do to ensure I keep the rest of the day properly?

The Feast of Tabernacles should be approached similarly, even though God has not designated a specific period during which to prepare. In Deuteronomy 14:22-27, God commands us to prepare our second tithe by setting aside a 10th of our income. This involves preparation for the better part of an entire year! Second tithe ensures we have enough funds to keep the Feast. (Your second tithe can, to a lesser extent, be used for the other Holy Days as well.)

Verse 24 instructs us to make travel arrangements and book accommodations. We must do these in advance to avoid scrambling to make arrangements at the last minute.

Plan out as many details as possible for the Feast beforehand. Also, make sure you mark on your calendar which day is opening night, and establish travel plans so that you will arrive with enough time to prepare for the first service.

Weekly Refresher

As much as the Feast is the highlight of the year for a Christian, the Sabbath should be the day of the week we look most forward to. Learning to better delight in the Sabbath (Isa. 58:13) requires some work.

First, remember that, as with the Feast, the Sabbath is a time to refocus on what it pictures: the coming Kingdom of God! Devote extra time communing with God and meditating on this subject, which is the ultimate destination of our Christian walk. Go above and beyond your typical amount of time spent studying and praying during weekdays.

Establishing these habits on a weekly basis will make it easier to maintain a focus on spiritual matters during the Feast, when we have daily services and more activities occurring.

Second to building up your relationship with your Father in heaven is developing relationships with your brethren. Spend time with them before and after services during the potluck or snacks. It is also nice to occasionally enjoy a special dinner with others after weekly services.

Find other ways to delight in the Sabbath to prepare you to delight in the Feast. If you do not have to travel far for services, take a little extra time to sleep in. Enjoy a sumptuous breakfast or brunch—with local brethren if possible. Have a special cup of coffee or tea that is a bit more “luxurious” than what you have the other six days. Visit a nature reserve or park for a walk to be inspired by God’s Creation. These are all activities that we would not skip out on during the Feast—why not implement them during the weekly Sabbath?

Putting in the effort to make the Sabbath a delight will make it refreshing after six days of hard work. It will also set us up to be better able to enjoy this year’s Feast.

Build Skills

The Sabbath is an opportune time to discover and develop skills that you can use in a greater way during the fall festival. Volunteering and serving on a weekly basis will ensure you fully develop these talents.

Some of the skills that benefit the congregation include making flower arrangements, ushering, setting up for services, preparing special dishes for potlucks, taking photographs of fellowship, participating in choir, and performing on a musical instrument.

If you build up these skills through the year, you can more confidently serve in a related area at the Feast.

Do not feel that you cannot be of service—there is always help needed in these areas!

When working on a new skill for the Sabbath or the Feast, put in plenty of time practicing it independently.

Practice Etiquette

Another area in which you might not have thought about regarding preparing for the Feast is improving your etiquette during the Sabbath.

According to Webster’s New World dictionary, etiquette means “the forms, manner, and ceremonies established by convention as acceptable or required in social relations, in a profession, or in official life.” It also means “the rules for such forms, manners, and ceremonies.” Synonyms include protocol, manners, accepted behavior, rules of conduct, decorum and good form.

When going to a restaurant after the Sabbath or during the Feast, you give an impression of the Church to the public based on how you dress. Wearing quality, clean clothes will show people that we strive for high standards.

I Peter 3:8 instructs us to be “courteous,” and chapter 2 verse 17 teaches us to “honor all men.” In order to accomplish this, implement basic etiquette rules. Gentlemen should honor ladies by holding doors for them. When eating, know proper table etiquette such as placing your napkin on your lap when you first sit down and the difference between the forks used for salads or entrees.

Always be respectful to wait staff at a restaurant. If a waitress serves you a salad that has bacon on it, the last thing you want to do is belittle her and crudely demand a change. Instead, kindly inform whoever is serving you while ordering to remove certain unclean foods from a recipe if you know it will be in it. Of course, there is no need to bring up Bible verses or state that you cannot have clam chowder because it is “unclean.” Not only would those in the public not readily grasp such terminology, it could represent the Church poorly.

Treating others properly, especially the elderly, in all public settings will let your light shine and show (without them realizing) that you serve a benevolent God (Matt. 5:14-16; Lev. 19:32).

In II Corinthians 5:20, the apostle Paul stated that we are ambassadors for Christ. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, an ambassador is an “official envoy; especially: a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government…”

High standards are required for ambassadors in the world—how much more is required of Christ’s ambassadors?

Get Excited!

The Sabbath and Feast of Tabernacles are essential training periods in the lives of Christians. By now it should be obvious that keeping these days properly involves many responsibilities.

But do not get so bogged down in tasks that you lose sight of the awesome purpose of God’s Holy Days.

Both the Sabbath and the Feast represent the Kingdom of God. Notice how the apostle Paul compared the weekly rest to the ultimate rest for God’s people. He wrote in Hebrews 4: “There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…” (vs. 9-11).

Working hard and preparing for the Sabbath throughout the week will ensure you have an enjoyable seventh-day rest. Rehearsing for the Feast throughout the year by practicing on each Sabbath will ensure you have a most rewarding and fulfilling fall festival. And utilizing the Feast to its fullest will prepare you for the time when you can enter into the glorious rest of which the apostle Paul spoke.

Determine to fully embrace the Sabbath and the Feast of Tabernacles, because only those who master keeping these important Feasts will be able to teach them in the Kingdom.