Hi how are you? I cannot believe that we are just over a week out from Christmas. It seems unreal- like the season has just come upon us so fast. There is lots of preparations going on for Christmas Day- just one day. It sort of reminds me of a wedding- all of those preparations for just one day. How are you going?
This week I want to look at Christmas traditions. Some of those could be:
- Putting your Christmas tree up and playing carols while you decorate it.
- It could be making your favourite things to eat. Ours are rum balls, trifle and sugar coated peanuts.
- It could be attending your favourite carols or church service the day of or night before Christmas.
- It could be going to your favourite place or visiting special family.
One of our family traditions was that my children would get a stocking full of chocolates. This has been passed down and now my step grandchildren get one and they love it.
But what does the Bible say about traditions?
Mark 7: 5 to9 in the New King James Bible gives an account of what Jesus thought about the Pharisees traditions. It states:
5. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
I think verse 9 sums up the way Jesus thought about traditions. Traditions are okay but only if they don’t override the commandments of God. The Pharisees and others had so many traditions for their people that the love for God that comes through relationship was stifled. Jesus wants us to love Him and God and the Holy Spirit from our heart and not because of rituals.
If our tradition states that we must attend a Christmas service on Christmas Day or God will be mad at us is not the right tradition to follow. It is rules regulated not relationship building.
If, however, we have a heart relationship towards God and we attend the Christmas service to honour and love God, then that is the right reason. Sometimes we can’t attend because of other commitments with family, holidays or illness. God is not going to get mad at us, He loves us.
We need to ensure our traditions are full of love for God and others and I know most of them are.
I want to pose the thought that sometimes these things aren’t Christmas traditions but we are making Christmas memories.
There are lots of stories in the Old Testament where either God told His people or they did it on their own and set up altars or memorial stones. This was so that when they passed these places with their families, they could recount the stories to their children.
Putting up my Christmas tree is like putting up a memory tree. My children are older now but I still have the angel my youngest son made in preschool and baubles that my children decorated in Sunday school. These create good memories for me.
Maybe that’s what our favourite Christmas food, presents, outings, houses and families mean for us at Christmas- remembering former times and creating new memories.
Maybe they aren’t Christmas traditions after all but Christmas memories to treasure today and into the future. As we are putting up our small nativity scene, remembering the greatest gift this Christmas- the Son of God born to a virgin girl in a manger- an unlikely place but a God place.
Enjoy creating memories this Christmas. Until next time, keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you
Karen
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