something?

so today is a day of nostalgia. i think that days like that are pretty hard... looking back and realizing how much has changed. and i don't do change well. which is really pretty bad, because the Hope of the world involves change--big change.

i was reading in nehemiah this morning, when the israelites had returned to jerusalem and finished rebuilding the wall of the city. after they had, ezra the scribe stood up before all the people and started reading the book of the law... and it was a powerful experience for the people, because over the centuries, they had wandered far from their god and had been taken far from their inheritance... the law of their god was in many ways unknown to them, and so when it was read it was a powerful, "oh, man" time. but anyway, so they threw a festival like they had been instructed in the law, for the first time in HUNDREDS of years... they went all out, totally went for it...
and it says in neh. 8:17:

"The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great."

and something about that really just caught me.
"their joy was very great."
and what were they doing? they were aligning themselves with the law of the lord... they were celebrating even in the manner god had commanded them. in some ways, they hadn't even known how far away from god's law they had been until that time, and in their corporate response of obedience (why do people think obedience is such a bad thing?) and celebration (why do people think celebration is such a bad thing? maybe they don't...), the joy of the Lord fell upon them... and their joy was very great.

isn't that awesome? no matter how far they may have been, just to turn back to the Lord... there He is, waiting to pour out his joy on his people...

i think this world needs some of this very great joy...
i can't wait...