Traditions...What are we passing on?

Christmas Lights, gingerbread houses, Christmas trees and cookies left for Santa, all traditions passed down through time from one generation to another. Traditions make us feel at home, like something remembered, something familiar. We all love memories of years past. A tradition is the act of handing over a long established action or behavior. Sometimes it is good to have the familiar surrounding us, perhaps that is why we love the Christmas season so much because of all the things we do year after year. One of the great things about traditions is that you can begin a new one anytime you want. As a mom, I can generate the lesson of thankfulness, love, joy or maybe forgiveness for years to come just by incorporating a new family custom. Thinking of all these things made we wonder where or when these activities started. When was the first nativity put out? Candy canes, when did a child first lick this treat with delight? Stockings, were they always hung by the chimney with care? How many of these traditions had spiritual meaning when they began? Have we somehow missed the real reason for these traditions? Do we engage in Christmas shopping and sending cards because it is just what our parents always did or what society expects of us? Thanks to the Internet we can research traditions and find the real reasons in order to again pass down the stories and significance of why we do what we do. Everywhere we look this Christmas season are wonderful things we can use to pass on the story of Christ to others. The Christmas colors green and red stand for eternal life and Christ's redemptive blood. The candy cane has a lot of spiritual representation and can be a great witnessing tool if we just knew the story of how they were created. I challenge you this Christmas season find out why you do what you do. It just might spark a spiritual conversation with someone around you that can be passed on to the next generation. Don't just do it because it is routine. It will mean so much more when you discover the true origin and reason. Don't just sing the carols, think of the words and truly worship the King. The baby in the manger is not a symbol for Christmas, it is our most precious gift. It is the true reason for the season.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when thou sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates." (NKJV)