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Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper is an excellent resource to refer to in planning and preparing for your holiday celebrations and not only that but also the meaning and purpose of it all. Why do we have traditions? Noel Piper believes that by our traditions we can help the next generation treasure God, and at the same time deepen our love for him. Only God can give our children a taste for his sweetness. He uses God-centered traditions and Bible-saturated family patterns and grace-laden heirlooms.

She talks about the importance of having every-day traditions such as family devotions together, worshiping Christ together, praying together over your meals, etc. Secondly, she dives into the “especially” traditions, that of the birthdays, weddings, and planning of the holiday traditions.

“The things we do regularly that help us in our deepest being to know and love and want God, the things that help our lives to be infiltrated with God–those things are tradition. And then if there are children in our lives, pass these God-focused activities to the next generation–that’s what tradition is for a Christian.”

Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “You shall teach [God's word] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

God is the reason we have anything to celebrate. He is the ultimate source of any of our celebrations. As we read in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

How will we seek to make Christ our treasure this holiday season? How will we strive to teach God’s word to the next generation through our traditions? How can we be purposeful during this busy and often overwhelming time of year? What are our children and the world around us seeing as the center most focus in our homes? Do others see why we celebrate?

May this time be a reflection of what our lives are–gratitude for the promises that were fulfilled when God gave us the gift of his Son and anticipation of and preparation for Christ’s coming again. ~ N. Piper