Jesus is Not a Tradition, He’s God.

“…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”-2 Corinthians 4:8

I'm sharing a lot of the things we do and traditions we keep as I post. I just wanted to step back and remember that though we "do" a lot, it is never meant to be about the tradition itself (though I've failed here before). We places these traditions in our home to redirect our hearts away from ourselves and towards Jesus. Please know that it is my heart daily, in ALL I do to seek Christ and treasure Him. But I just don’t do it. I want to, but I seek for myself instead and wander. I’m thankful that He does not ever leave me there though. He graciously draws me to Himself even in the midst of my endless rebellion.

We placed traditions in our family for fun, but mainly to remind us of Christ’s saving work on the cross. I love traditions and there are many of my family traditions growing up that we continue on today. I want my kids to have those fun memories at home and things to look forward to. To know that those fun times point us towards the only true hope in life, Jesus, is priceless to me. THAT is our central vision, Christ supreme in our lives, not the tradition itself.


Noel Piper expresses this SO well here: "Although we can’t bequeath God to our children, we can help them know him and understand him in ways that prepare them to believe in his name. ‘Everyday’ and ‘especially’ traditions in a family are an important part of that teaching, of picturing who God is and what he’s done in our home and in the world. Traditions are a vital way of displaying our greatest treasure, of showing what—Who—is most important to us." 


We never want our focus to be on how (the tradition) but always on who (Christ).

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”-Hebrews 12:2

Comments

steffiejoy said…
Im stealing the Noel Piper quote! wow. good stuff to think about! thanks
December 6, 2010 at 11:47 AM
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