As the year is coming to a close we all start thinking and planning what the following year is going to look like. We set goals to grow and think on the things in our lives that we would be better off without. We tend to want to leave the past behind to create a better future. We say things like “out with the old and in with the new”. While there are things in all of our lives we would be better off without, we must appreciate the process of going through all the experiences of the past years. If we were to be truthful with ourselves the tough (or dirty) things are the foundation to our growth. Today’s culture tends to think of tradition as an old way of living. Products are made to be temporary and leisure is an ever new adventure.  The moments that are imbedded in my mind are the moments that were repeated over and again. The ever present orange in the bottom of my Christmas stocking as a child and the vacation spot we visited every year with my family. Or the bedtime prayer I said every night with my grandchildren when they were growing up, tradition. The matriarch in my family, my mother-in-law went to be with our Lord a few years back. Her Thanksgiving stuffing has created a fun tradition in my family. Every year we all call each other to see what the other does to recreate her stuffing all believing that our version is the closest to hers. It keeps her spirit alive during one of the most memorable times of tradition in our family.

What an old thing to say, right? Well, you have to know your history to understand it. Bathwater was work before you could turn on a faucet. It was shared and the baby was the last in. Make sense now? The phrase is used to say; be sure to hold on the valuable when you discard what is not needed any longer.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” What He was teaching was that the past was to be the precursor for Him to come and to give life eternal to us who believe. Without the Law we would not realize the need for a Savior. Studying the Old Testament may not be as exciting as the message of the New Testament but it is essential for us to truly know our Lord God and to truly know our own hearts. It is so with our past as well. Without the past good and bad, we would not realize we need growth or change. This year let’s try looking back with a grateful heart for all the days of our past and to all the people, ones still in your life and the ones that have moved on, that have helped shape you into who you are still becoming. Happy New Year!