Are birthday celebrations ungodly?

I honestly am just answering from the heart. I believe that the heart in which you do things is more important to God than customs. The bible does say worship Him in spirit & in truth but society (Satan's realm) deceives the world from having knowledge of the pagan origin of many customs & other truths that for now are hidden. I celebrate my birthday by giving God thanks for remembering the day I was brought here & what my purpose here is. I'm not celebrating age or anything superficial just a special remembrance to be grateful for life. The bible says it's better to celebrate the day we day we leave than our birth. It doesn't mean you shouldn't, it just means our focus should be more on entering the kingdom instead of entering the world. There is more of a celebration for funerals than birthdays in my family. Christmas origin is pagan too & the focus surrounds giving gifts but if that day were truly about God & to glorify Him than He will accept it. Giving is better than receiving & giving to the poor & those who have nothing is better than to give your kids materials. Christmas is centered around consumerism. The birth of Jesus was not on Dec 25th. This practice doesn't glorify God so I don't celebrate it. I grew up celebrating it but don't agree now. The bible states that not even Jewish custom or rituals were pleasing Him because His people didn't have the right heart. Just fulfilling an obligation. These practices only please God if done in the right spirit. Know the truth & celebrate in the spirit of God.

Birthdays cannot be a sin!! GOD loves celebration, and fellowship, breaking bread, and unity. The sin factor is what we as humans determine as celebration. To celebrate ones heart still beating is not sinful. To not make reference that GOD is the reason for the still beating is not sinful.

Example: Wake everyday, and give thanks for air in your lungs. If you do that everyday, celebrating your birthday will become as meaningful as every day you take another breathe.

I believe its sinful to celebrate your birthday, and yet forget about the other 364 days he woke you up.

Flawed Logic

• By that logic, I could easily show that getting married is a sin, because practically every woman in the Bible was a cause of stumbling for her husband... :p Or I could show that God's interactions with Israel in the wilderness were evil, because whenever He tested them, they sinned.

• We need to stick to what the Bible does say, and be careful about reading into it too much. Safe conclusion: "Bad things sometimes happened on birthdays." Shaky conclusion: "Birthdays are evil."

Could Be Either

• If I throw a party for my birthday so I can get attention and presents and we can all get together and get drunk and talk about how great I am, then it's probably a safe bet to call this particular birthday party "sinful."

• If it's my friend's birthday, and I get some of his friends together, and we gather together to share a meal with him and show him how much we value him and care about him, that seems more like "love" than "sin."

Taskmaster or Kinsman?

• Many people view God as a ruthless taskmaster with His finger on the "death button" waiting for you to mess up so He can judge you.

• I think His people need to recognize that He is love, and He created life to be pleasant and enjoyable prior to sin messing it all up. If we are walking in His will, it's ok to enjoy life a little in our "down time."

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.

Seriously, have some fun in life.

First to address a couple fuzzy or incorrect conclusions drawn in the question:

The book of Job does NOT say, "However and whenever they celebrated, Job knew it didn't please God." As you quoted, Job is being proactive to show God he cares about his children, and that on the off chance they have sinned, an atonement can be made.

Also, the beheading of John the Baptist coincided with Herod's birthday, but was not done for his birthday: it was done to please Herodias' daughter (who asked for her mother) after she apparently did some pretty exciting "dancing" for the guests at the party.

To the question itself. Firstly, a "birthday" is amoral - it is a day like any other. Days do not have morality associated with them (though the actions of celebrants/observers will have moral implications).

Secondly, @Marc's answer is a start. Hannah celebrated Samuel's birth (though perhaps not the "day") annually:

Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” And they went to their own home.

Paul writes in Romans 14 a generally-applicable commentary on celebrations:

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

There is no condemnation of celebrating certain amoral days on their own - any commentary made about varied celebrations is always about what the participant(s) may be doing (or not doing). It is not about the day itself.