Daily Devotional For Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Our word for today is TRADITIONS. For most of us, Christmas is filled with more traditions than any other time of the year. For some families, one of their traditions is a birthday party for Jesus a few days before Christmas. I read about one family who read the Christmas story together, sing carols about the “birthday boy,” tell what we’d like to give Jesus the next year, and then sing happy birthday to Jesus, with the youngest child blowing out the big birthday candle in the center of an angel food cake. To prove that traditions can be changed, a few years ago they say that they began giving every child an opportunity to blow out the candle. (If you’re wondering about the wisdom of eating angel food cake after a dozen or so salivating children have blown out a candle, you’re missing the point!)

For families and churches all over the world, Christmas is a time of deep and meaningful traditions. But sometimes those same traditions can become a barrier to seeing the true meaning of Christmas. Traditions can be good or they can be bad, depending on how we use them. The Bible makes this abundantly clear. On the bad side of traditions are Jesus’ words to the Pharisees. And He continued in Mark 7:9, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (NIV) On the good side are Paul’s words to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:2 he says, “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you (NIV). He is talking specifically here about the Lord’s Supper, a tradition that Jesus commanded us to keep as an ordinance of the church.

As you think about the traditions of Christmas, here are three ways to embrace the good and leave behind the bad. These lessons about tradition are based on reading through Jesus’ discussions of tradition with the religious leaders of his day: 

1. Traditions are bad when they keep God distant and are good when they bring God near. Sometimes a Christmas tradition can be a way of building a barrier between you and a real relationship with God. The Pharisees did this by adding to the Law in Jesus’ day, and we can do it with our holiday celebrations today. You can know you are misusing traditions in this way when they cause you to feel sentimental, but don’t draw you towards the almighty power of God. A good tradition will help you to sense, often at a level beyond words, that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
2. Traditions are bad when they are used to control and are good when they bring us closer. Beautiful traditions can sometimes become great burdens. This especially happens when one person in the family uses the tradition to try to get everyone to do as they want. Most of us have had the experience of someone telling us, “We’ve ALWAYS done it this way.” Good traditions connect you to God and to others in ways that are familiar because you’ve done them before, but also new in the relationships you experience.
3. Traditions are bad when they become the meaning of Christmas and are good when they point to the meaning of Christmas. Traditions are meant to point us to something that is true and meaningful. When we keep doing the tradition while no longer recognizing the truth, we feel empty. It is that feeling of going through the motions, without knowing why. On the other hand, there will be many times when you sense a depth of significance and meaning in a simple tradition that you can’t find anywhere else. Tears start to come or a smile bursts out without you really being able to explain why.

So, let’s do two things this Christmas:

1. First, bring the meaning back into some of your Christmas traditions. With a brief prayer or word from Scripture, remember the depth of meaning behind what you are doing.
2. Second – and this one is riskier – feel the freedom to start some new traditions to replace ones that have lost their meaning.

Questions To Consider

1. When it comes to Christmas traditions, what are the traditions in your family and why do you keep celebrating them? If you have children or grandchildren, ask them what traditions they like in your family with Christmas?
2. When it comes to Christmas traditions, what are some traditions other families have that you might like to incorporate into your own family and why?
3. When you think about how commercialized Christmas has become, most people lose or forget the real meaning of Christmas. They make it about the lights, decorations, baking, gifts, the tree, and being with family. Do you feel your family makes Christmas about the birth of Jesus? If so, how? If not, why?
4. If you have children or grandchildren, would you this Christmas either on Christmas Eve night or Christmas Day, pull your family together and either read the Christmas story or have one of your children/grandchildren read it? Why or why not? You can read Joseph’s part in Matthew 1:18-25, Mary’s part in Luke 1:26-38 and the birth in Luke 2:1-20. If you have children or grandchildren, ask them what they like most in the Christmas story and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Mark 7:8, Jesus said to the religious leaders, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Father, thank You for this reminder from Scripture of the good and the bad in traditions. I pray that the events and traditions of Christmas will have new meaning for me this Christmas. Help me to intentionally focus on You and Your love for me in all that we do during this season. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly