15 - Traditions

As Israel prepared to leave Egypt God wanted to make sure they would never forget the important lessons they were learning about Him. He knew human nature tends to quickly forget spiritual lessons and ceases to be thankful. And when this happens people are forced to keep relearning painful lessons, and those who fall into that cycle are prevented from maturing. Forgetting also leads to thanklessness and that is an even greater danger for it allows pride to grow and pride in time will always lift God’s hand of blessing. So to protect them as well as their descendants from falling into this trap He instituted three ceremonies which He wanted to become traditions. He said from the moment they left Egypt onward they were to observe: the feast of Passover; the feast of Unleavened Bread; and the dedication of firstborn sons and livestock. He wanted these events to regularly remind them of the great miracles He did for them, and then He wanted them to talk about those miracles so their faith would be passed on to their children. These were lessons that must never be forgotten, and these were lessons that every generation must learn. Therefore He commanded that they become traditions… memorials built into the patterns of their lives. Today we’ll look at the continuing power of traditions and consider how they can be a blessing to us as well.