Month: March 2025

In Matthew 15, Jesus asks a question.

“And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Verse 3).

Even today, we wrestle with tradition becoming commandments in our minds.

As a young preacher, I took a group of teenagers to a nursing home where they monthly sang church songs to the audience of elderly patients. We always concluded our 25 minutes of singing with a prayer before leaving. That is a wonderful tradition, but I thought I would “shake things up.” I had the prayer in the middle of the singing and closed with a song. I turned to the young people to leave and they stood waiting for a “closing prayer.” I motioned for them to go, but they stood frozen in their spot. Finally I lead a prayer and they willingly left.

Here’s another example: I once observed a church leader walk into a teenage Bible class. He saw donuts the teacher had brought so he took them out. Was he enforcing a tradition or a commandment of God?

Tradition is doing things in a certain way so long that it become a law in our hearts.

Traditions cover whether women go to church in pants or dresses, the length of a man’s hair, or the style of worship we love. Young people, old people, white people, black people, and people in other lands all worship with a different style. These are just traditions.
In keeping with Jesus’ question, we must not let our traditions become a “thus saith the Lord.” Traditions are fine! I follow a lot of them, but I must see them for what they are and not judge another by my traditions. When God tells us what to do, that is not a tradition. When God has not spoken, it is a tradition.

I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.

There’s something captivating about the shine of success. Whether it’s a larger bank account, a new title on the office door, or applause from a crowd, we chase after these things with energy and passion. But Jesus asked a question that cuts right through all of that. It is found in Matthew 16:26

“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

In other words, what good is it to gain the whole world if you lose your soul in the process?

It’s easy to forget how fragile this world’s treasures are.
Wealth can vanish overnight.
Popularity fades faster than morning mist.
Even the best accomplishments grow old with time.

Yet, we spend so much of our lives stacking up these things, hoping they’ll give us the meaning and worth we crave. Jesus reminds us that true worth isn’t found in any of these. It’s found in something eternal — the state of our soul.

Your soul is the part of you that will live forever. It’s the place where God speaks, where His Spirit comforts, and where His love takes root. No amount of money, power, or fame can touch that sacred place. And when all is said and done, it’s your soul — not your resume or your retirement account — that will stand before God.

So, Jesus isn’t trying to take something from us with this question. He’s inviting us to trade the temporary things and stuff and junk, for the eternal.

It’s the best trade you’ll ever make.

I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.