This week a Christmas tradition came to an end. The
buttermilk fudge we made turned out perfectly: pure sweet creamy deliciousness
that we didn’t have to eat with a spoon. Thus we thankfully ended a 15-year
streak of a runny, gooey mess.
As our family grows and grows up, we have other traditions
that are coming to an end as well. While I’m sad for some of them to go, I also
realize that change is inevitable. Sometimes, for the sake of our physical and
spiritual growth, we set aside traditions of the past with good reason. Here
are three good reasons to set aside tradition:
1. When
the tradition dishonors God
Jesus
told the Pharisees in Mark 7:6-8, HCSB, “These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines
the commands of men. Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of
men.” He also said to them, “You completely invalidate God’s command in order
to keep your tradition!”
Traditions
that enslave, oppress and encourage false worship must be set aside for the
truth of the gospel. Jesus had harsh words for the Pharisees for enslaving the
people with legalism rooted in religious tradition. Instead, the gospel of Christ
is rooted in a relationship of love with our Creator that translates to loving
those around us and seeking God’s best for them. If you practice a tradition
for the sake of tradition itself, it needs to stop. Now.
What traditions do you keep that
invalidate God’s commands?
2. When
the tradition facilitates pretense
We
all want to portray ourselves in the best light possible, but sometimes our
traditions facilitate pretense, causing us to be dishonest with ourselves and
with God.
Again,
Jesus criticized the Pharisees for this type of behavior: “Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses,
and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater
condemnation” (Matthew 23:18, NASB).
Pretense
facilitates an “I’m OK. You’re OK” mentality that keeps us from admitting the
truth: we are all sinners trying to make sense of the messed up world we’ve
created and of which we are a part. Pretense denies our need for a Savior.
In what areas of your life are
you pretending?
3. When
the tradition stifles the work of the Holy Spirit
The
prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB, “Do not remember the past events, pay
no attention to the things of old. Look I am about to do something new; even
now it is coming. Do
you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the
desert.”
Tradition
can keep us from allowing the Holy Spirit to do a new work in our lives and the
lives of those around us. When we adhere to tradition too strongly, as the
Pharisees and Sadducees did, we can miss the Messiah living among us.
What
“new thing” does Christ want to do in your life in 2015?
Let Him do it. Now.
Labels: Christmas, Devotionals, forgiveness, hope, redemption, salvation, traditions
