Tradition is the transmitting of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. The Worthan Family has many traditions which have been passed on, I guess the oldest in our family would be that of Family Vacation which has been going on since about 1963. We started as a family when our boys were growing up, and as they were married and had children this wonderful tradition continued; a time of fun and recreation for the family to be together. We start planning it in January of each year. But this year the Senior Worthan’s are bowing out because of age. Will we miss it? Of course we will, but we’re thankful that this tradition is going on with the rest of the family, they will all be loading up and heading out, making the trip itself fun, doing the same things we’ve done year after year, with our six great grandchildren learning the meaning of Family Traditions (and we’ll be right in the middle of all the happenings by modern technology and face timing). Family Traditions are good if they honor the Lord; and as enjoyable as Family Vacation is there is a tradition the Word of God talks of that’s much more edifying and important than all our other Family Traditions. In Psalm 145:4 David encourages this most important practice of transmission when he writes “One generation shall praise thy works to another. And shall declare thy mighty works.” Mr. Spurgeon says “there shall be a tradition of praise! That families shall make it a point to instruct their descendants in this hallowed exercise of praise to our God.” The Lord loves families; His word is built upon families one after another starting with Adam and Eve. In His incarnation He was placed in a family. So families are important to Him, your family is important to Him. We look back upon the experience of our fathers, and if we are from a Christian Family we pass on story after story of time after time when our God did this and that in our lives. We look beyond our immediate family and pass on the stories of scripture – the Lord parted a sea for His people to pass over – He sent His Son as our substitute – we teach them to look back on the Lord’s works and the experience of our Father’s as they were martyred for love of Him, we sing of His mighty acts: our children will learn praise of the Lord’s works from us. Let us make a point of praising God before our children and grandchildren and even our great grandchildren, never making His service an unhappy one. “And shall declare thy mighty acts.” Mr. Spurgeon writes, “Generations unite, and together they shall make up an extraordinary history. Each generation shall contribute its chapter, and all the generations together shall compose a volume of matchless character. David reached to an inconceivable multitude, comprehending all the myriads of our race of every age. The praise of the Lord enlarges the heart, and as it grows upon us our minds grow with it. God’s works of goodness and acts of power make up a subject which all the eras of human story can never exhaust. A heart full of praise seems to live in all the centuries in delightful companionship with all the good. We are not afraid that the incense will ever cease to burn upon the altars of Jehovah: the priests die, but the adoration lives on. All glory be unto him who remains the same Lord throughout all generations.”
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