Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
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Jun 2, 2019 11:00:00 PM
Some people find it hard to identify with the Jews who rock before Jerusalem’s Western Wall. When I first saw them, the prayers seemed odd. Then I thought about my traditions. Are they any less bizarre?
(Photo: Men praying at the Western Wall. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Oddness just comes in different flavors. They’re called “traditions.” For example:
It’s easy in the familiarity of our own traditions to shake our fingers at the oddities of others. Jews pray while rocking, Muslims kneel with their bottoms in the air, and Christians bow our heads and close our eyes.
But blend any tradition—bowing, standing, prostrating, rocking, kneeling, or jumping—with no personal relationship with the true God, and it’s pointless.
How can we make sure we don’t confuse truth with tradition?
Before meals, my grandfather used to pray the same short prayer in Spanish. And while I didn’t understand a word of it, I could soon repeat it verbatim. My bedtime prayers as a boy followed the same pattern:
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake . . .
I could rattle that puppy off in about 10 seconds. But my heart was not in it.
Even our “extemporaneous” prayers follow traditions, don’t they?
(Photo: Men praying at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Old habits die hard, don’t they? After giving thanks for dinner one evening, I opened my eyes to see one of my daughters just staring at me. “Do you know you pray the same thing every time?” she asked. From the mouths of babes. So the next night I made sure to pray from the heart. “You changed it!” she exclaimed.
If you are where you can, read Jesus’ familiar words out loud—all of them:
When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. —Matthew 6:5–7
Two actions to notice about Jesus’ words:
Let’s make sure not to confuse the truth with our traditions. And in exercising our traditions, let’s keep our hearts engaged.
Tell me what you think: What other traditions do we do that aren’t in the Bible? To leave a comment, just click here.
This post is adapted from Wayne’s book, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ.
• Enjoy an engaging, inspiring, and humorous travelogue that mingles the life-changing truths of Jesus with a walking tour of the Holy Land.
• Experience the Holy Land through the sights, sounds, and tastes of this personal travelogue, and discover how these sacred places influenced the lessons Jesus taught.
You will discover lessons Jesus has for your life.
Click here to leave a comment.
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