Good evening brethren and Happy Sabbath!

Traditions

Our lives are filled with tradition. What we eat on Thanksgiving, what we say when we see someone perhaps. Even the way we dress on game day of our favorite teams.  All are various forms of tradition.

My brother-in-law has a fun one: each fall, he makes sure he catches at least one leaf before it hits the ground. It’s become a fun tradition the rest of the family has taken part in as well. If you’ve never done it, give it a try. It’ll make you feel like a kid again!

Good, bad or indifferent?

So are traditions good or bad? It depends of course on the tradition. Celebrating a pagan holiday such as Christmas because your family has done it for generations is a pretty bad tradition. Singing hymns at the open and close of our services are good in that they give us all a chance to worship God in unison. 

Of course, other things become traditions too. We might not think of them as such, but we continue to do them because, “I’ve always done it that way.” That sort of thinking would leave us in a rut and make it impossible to change. For example, someone who struggled with addiction might have a tendency to drink too much on Friday night because it was a ‘tradition’ to stop by at the local bar on the way home from work.

Other traditions, like catching a leaf ever fall are fun, but are neither good nor bad.

What’s your tradition?

Do you have traditions in your life? I’m sure you do. But it might be worth asking yourself: Why do I practice the tradition? Is it good? Bad? Or neither?

By examining the things we do and looking beyond the moniker of ‘tradition,’ we can ensure that we are diligently seeking to honor and obey God with ever aspect of our lives and never be taken astray by tradition!