Daniel 12:1b-2 “The Blessing of Knowing”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

…and in that time your people will be delivered, the all of a one being found written in the book. ²And many from ones sleeping of ground of dust will awake, some to lives of ages and some to reproaches, to abhorrences of ages.

There are some other thoughts I’d like to record before I move on from this passage. As I’ve read and listened over the years, people routinely make observations like that the idea of resurrection is mainly a New Testament concept. They will make statements such as, “In the Old Testament, there is not much written about resurrection,” and some will even go so far as to claim people really didn’t have much of a concept of an after-life. This particular passage, of course, draws out those objections and such people note this is, in the Bible, the first mention of the phrase, “eternal life.”

While it is true the words “eternal life” and even “resurrection” are much more common in the New Testament than the Old, there are a number of objections I’d like to raise to assert that, for us believers, nothing has changed.

First of all, we should all be reminded that, before Jesus came, far, far more was said than what got written down for us in the Scriptures. Isaiah, for example, is for us a huge book of 66 chapters. In spite of its size, does anyone really believe that’s all he ever said? Isaiah was a prophet. That was his life. I would suggest any thinking believer would have no trouble acknowledging that MUCH was said and taught, and perhaps even written, from Adam to the birth of Christ, and, by default, obviously most of it never got recorded as Scripture.

The Bible itself tells us, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (I Cor. 10:13). Notice, “they were written down for us.” The Lord was very deliberate about what got written down to stand as an eternal record, especially (in my opinion) knowing eventually those Scriptures would leave that little patch of earth called Israel and be carried literally to “the ends of the earth.” The Jews have even their “traditions” which they’ve carried forward throughout their history. Us Gentiles would basically know nothing at all except that the Lord made sure a record got written down of the truths He knew we would need.

My point in all of this is that I think it foolish to read the Old Testament, and then act like what’s written down is all that was ever said, all that the prophets taught. I would suggest rather, we should realize that what we have recorded is a tiny fraction of all that was said and taught.

One example that jumps off the page for me is Job 19:25-27. The book of Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible, possibly written down as early as 2,000 BC, some 500 years before Moses was even born. In the passage, Job says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand in the latter days upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

How did Job know all of this? He knew he was waiting for the Redeemer! He knew the Redeemer would stand on this earth far into earth’s future. He believed in a literal, physical resurrection and was “yearning” for that day. His book opens with the Lord saying of him, “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (1:1). How did he even know how to be “blameless and upright”? Without Scriptures, how did he know of God at all and know Him well enough to “fear” Him? With essentially no Scriptures to read, obviously Job was taught by someone who was gifted to speak for the Lord.

Then, how many times does the Old Testament itself say of someone who died, “and he was gathered to his people”? David (1,000 BC) finished the 23^rd Psalm with the words, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Saul went to the witch of Endor to ask her to raise Samuel. What made him think Samuel was somewhere and could be raised? Once again, my point is, for any thinking believer reading their Old Testament, it is obvious they knew and understood far, far more that can be attributed directly to what had been written down. For us, we have a completed Scripture with which we can be content, but they lived in a day when much of what was known was provided directly to them by their prophets and teachers…and not necessarily written down.

So, to say people in the Old Testament didn’t know much or think much about resurrection or eternity is just folly. Obviously, they did. There is one reason I would suggest why perhaps there is less mention of those things in the Old Testament than the New. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Spirit, “You know Him, for He lives with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). In the Old Testament, the Spirit would “come upon” people, whereas in the New He actually dwells in us. Because of His ministry, it would make sense to me if faith back then was more “here and now,” but today can definitely have a more spiritual or eternal bent. That could explain why there is so much more emphasis on resurrection and eternity in the New Testament as compared to the Old. Today in the Church Age, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, helping us think more about eternity while still living for God in the “here and now.” That makes sense to me anyway.

The bottom line, though, for us believers is that resurrection and eternal life are and always have been important. When the angel tells Daniel, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt,” he isn’t telling him something he never thought of before. Ever since the Garden of Eden, believers have been people of hope. As Adam and Eve stood there in their shame, it was our Lord who told them of “the Seed of the Woman” who would come and “crush the serpent’s head.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “He has set eternity in the hearts of men.” I rather suspect even the most determined atheist knows in his heart that death is not the end, that somehow he will live forever. What a blessing it is for us believers to say with Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives…” What a blessing it is to know with Daniel that all people everywhere will one day be raised. What a blessing it is to know with the believers from all the ages that, because of that Redeemer, we can know our names are “written in His book.” We know that someday we will rise to live eternal life!

Daniel 12:1b-2 “Destinies”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

…and in that time your people will be delivered, the all of a one being found written in the book. ²And many from ones sleeping of ground of dust will awake, some to lives of ages and some to reproaches, to abhorrences of ages.

The NIV translates this as: “…at that time your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

As I’ve read this passage over and over, it strikes me how these few simple words ought to be literally bone-chilling to every thinking human being. Only a fool refuses to think about the fact that he will someday die. However, it is even greater folly to not seriously ask the question, “And what then?” You would think the entire human race would be consumed with investigating this very simple question, “What then?”

Of course, someone might say, “The whole world thinks about it – that’s why there are so many ‘religions.’” My answer to that would be, “Yes, but do they really think about it?” How many really make any effort to truly investigate, to think it through, to ask questions, to honestly try to come to a personal conclusion?” I’d ask, “Who would ever get on a plane without knowing where it’s going?” Yet, the vast majority of us humans seem to slip into eternity never having seriously considered, “Where am I going?”

Remember here, these are actually the words of an angel. Daniel wrote them down, but this is an angel speaking to him, the same angel that has been speaking since the beginning of chapter 10, For whatever it’s worth, they’re both standing there by the Tigris River, with Jesus standing above them, one foot on each bank. As Jesus stands there over them, He knows He will someday tell His disciples, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance’…Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’…Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:34-46).

As a believer, Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth, and, after my skin has been destroyed, yet will I see Him with my own eyes, I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Yet, Isaiah recorded the Lord’s warning to everyone else, “And they [the believers] will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind” (66:24).

The Bible makes it abundantly clear from cover to cover that we all have but one of two destinies: heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal death. Once again, let us all stop and ponder these are the words of an angel before us. We may not be able to see what lies beyond this world – but he does! I would say to any thinking human being, “If you want to believe anything else, what will it be? And what assurance do you have that what you choose to believe is true?”

Jesus said it very clearly, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47), and “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has everlasting life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). God knows that you and I are born to die, born “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). We humans may delude ourselves and refuse to acknowledge our eternity, but the Lord is very aware of our peril. And what does He do? He takes upon Himself the form of a man, comes to earth, and goes to a Cross – dies our death – so we don’t have to!!! And why does He do that? Love. Pure, unadulterated, infinite, undying love. Jesus is love.

What other “religion” offers such a simple, straightforward understanding of our eternity? And what other “religion” offers a solution won at infinite cost by its God Himself – a solution of such amazing love?

If only all of us humans realized the peril we’re in, this verse in Daniel would (should) chill us to our bones! It is harrowing in its brevity and its simplicity. Only two paths – blunder on into an eternal hell, or turn our hearts to Jesus and live in heaven forever. As I personally think about it all, it makes me shudder. I’m confident now of my destiny, that my name is “written in His book,” but I am also keenly aware I had nothing to do with it. It was God Himself that day who suddenly turned on the lights in my heart and it is only because of Jesus that I can spend eternity in His heaven. I’m reminded of an old song I heard years ago and have never forgotten. It is so simple, so beautiful, and it so precisely expresses the heart of us who love our Savior Jesus:

My Plea

Words and Music by J. L. Baker, c. 20th Century

Should I at the gates of heaven appear

To answer the challenge “What claim hast thou here?

What hast thou to offer, yea, what is thy plea?”

With blessed assurance my answer would be:

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

Of all earthly treasures nothing I’ve brought,

No great deeds of merit have I ever wrought.

Tho’ vile and unworthy as mortal could be,

I’ve nothing to offer but this is my plea:

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

My sins, they are many; my virtues are few.

The blood of my Saviour will carry me through!

When Christ in my place died on Calvary’s tree,

Hallelujah! That opened God’s heaven to me!

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

Matthew 6:9–15 “Sailing”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Therefore, you (pl.), pray thus: Our Father who [is] in the heavens, may Your name be hallowed. ¹⁰Your kingdom come; Your desire be done on earth as also in heaven. ¹¹Give to us today our daily bread, ¹²and forgive to us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, ¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one], because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen. ¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins. 

This has been, for me, another life-changing study. As I always seem to do, when I embarked on the study, in my heart of hearts, I was afraid I wouldn’t learn anything. I’ve known the Lord’s Prayer basically my entire life. A cursory glance at it sees nothing out of the ordinary and all very familiar. However, as always with the Bible, when I just stop and seriously consider any given passage, I find it true it is “alive and powerful!” It is alive and life-giving. As Jesus said, “When you know the truth, the truth shall make you free!”

If I could sum up what I’ve learned in just a few words, I would say I’m struck (floored, blown away) by seeing that the Lord’s Prayer sails on a sea of love. If we include the thoughts from vv. 14,15, Jesus both begins and ends with “Our Father…” As I noted earlier, it would seem our naturally legalistic hearts read it and pray it as if it started with “Your Honor…,” as if every line lays on us some obligation to fulfill, concluding with threats that He might withhold forgiveness from us.

It certainly can be read that way, and, if people would pray it that way, it is better than nothing if it moves them at all toward holiness. However, it does not begin and end with “Your Honor.” It begins and ends with “Our Father.” The very name, Father, calls us not to a court, but up into His big, loving lap. This entire prayer should be read and repeated sitting in that lap. It is a prayer of dearly loved children snuggling with their Father and pouring out their hearts to Him. It is ALL about love. It is ALL about a relationship of love. It sails on a sea of love.

I should inject here that I have my pastor to thank for my realization of all of this. As he has been preaching through this prayer, from the very beginning, what he said lit up my heart and opened my eyes to see it was no accident Jesus instructs us to address our prayers to “Our Father.”

Sail with me for a minute: We pray to “Our Father” and add “which art in Heaven.” Once again, I grew up with the enviable privilege of having wonderful, loving parents. Many don’t. However, He is not an earthly parent. He is our heavenly Father. He is the perfect parent, the perfect Father. He is perfect in wisdom to know what is best for us every second and perfect in love to always, always, always be doing for us what is for our absolute best. He is perfect in power to protect us and to answer our prayers in accordance with that perfect wisdom and love. And this very title – heavenly Father – reminds us that we children belong there – in His house – not here is this fallen, broken, sin-cursed world.

“Hallowed be Thy name.” Here on earth, my father was always my hero. I remember being a small tike, watching him build things and fix things and sincerely believing in my little heart he could do anything! If anyone had asked, I’d have been happy to tell them that my Dad was the best dad in the whole world! Now I look up to my heavenly Father and pray, “Hallowed by Thy name.” As a believer, I honestly wish the whole world could see how great my heavenly Father is! He can do anything! He is a hero truly worthy of our worship and I can’t help but long for everyone to know Him and praise Him!

“Thy kingdom come.” This obviously concerns His rule. He is the King. “The Most High rules in the nations of men.” Though we are born “children of disobedience,” our believing hearts actually love to hear that He rules. To us, that is not a threat. It is a comfort. That is part of why we pray (often), “Jesus, come!” We want Him to rule this world! We love Him. We know He loves us, and truly one of our greatest griefs is that we too often find ourselves struggling to accept His rule in the topsy-turvy, minute-by-minute struggles of our days. We not only love Him, we pray He’d help us love Him more, resist Him less.

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This is, of course, an extension of “Thy kingdom come.” In a world that spits in His face and fights Him in every possible way, we His beloved children realize His way is best and long for a world where we all, like the good angels, just naturally live 100% in happy accordance with that will. I see it clearly enough in my own heart and life – when I get selfish and distrustful of Him, it brings only regret and heartache. When I let Him rule and sincerely try to do His will, the fruit really is love and joy and peace. Oh, that the whole world could know His kindness and the sweetness of living in His will! Our Father really does know best!

“Give us this day our daily bread. This, again, floors me, to realize Jesus goes here before even dealing with our need of forgiveness. “Amazing love – how can it be?” “As a father has compassion on his children, even so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows our frame, that we are but dust” (Ps. 103:13,14). He is not a harsh, stern father. He knows we are frail, that we get hungry and tired. I remember reading once of a swimming coach who would constantly be stopping his fellows to check their heart rates. He wanted to push them, to make them the best they could be, but he didn’t want to push them “too hard.” He could tell from their heart rates when any one of them had had enough and needed to call it a day. Our Coach, our Father, knows our “heart rates,” and deals with us, His children, in compassion. The love in all of that just floors me.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As we observed earlier, this prayer needs to be read sitting in our Father’s lap. We’re not talking to “Your Honor.” We’re talking to our Father. It grieves me to know that I can sit in His lap and still sin in His face! Even as I pray, I can fondle sinful thoughts that He says are to Him an abomination! “An abomination!” That would be like looking down at your two year old in your lap and realizing he’s holding what must be some month-old road-killed rotting skunk carcass! That’s what our sins are like to our Father. Realizing how much it hurts Him, I want to ask His forgiveness. I want to tell Him I’m sorry, that I don’t want to grieve Him and disappoint Him. I love Him – and I know He loves me. In fact, when it comes to faults and sins and “debts,” I live in such a glow of grace, I want to forgive people who sin against me. What they do to me is nothing in comparison to what I do to my Father. Yet, He forgives me. As I think on that, I want to forgive them.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Once again, that word “temptation” is not necessarily a negative word. It can mean simply the idea of “testing.” Our Father does not tempt us, but He does test us. Jesus instructed His disciples, “Pray that you enter not into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” As He faced the worst trial any human being will ever experience – the Cross – He Himself prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Jabez was “more honorable than his brothers,” and he prayed, “Keep me trouble, that it might not pain me,” and the Bible says, “The Lord granted his request.”

The plain, simple fact is it’s true. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. My sinful heart can take any “testing” from the Lord and turn it into temptation – and when that happens, I’m afraid my track record is not good. There is, in every difficult situation, a really good chance I will fail. It is an expression of our loving Father’s compassion that He allows us to ask, “Let this cup pass from me.”

In Jesus’s case, it was the suffering itself He wished He could somehow avoid. For us, we too certainly don’t like pain, but we are also keenly aware we simply don’t do well in trouble. I don’t want to suffer and I don’t want to fail. I don’t like pain, but when it hits me (no matter what it is), I don’t want to be biting other people’s heads off or lying to somehow escape it. I don’t want to get fearful and doubt my Father. I am quite skillful at devising sinful “escape routes.” Just like Jesus, the Father is okay with me seeing it all and asking “Deliver us from evil!”

“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever!” Having poured out our hearts to a Father who loves us and has compassion on our frail existence, I’m back to that old feeling of proper pride in my father. “He can do anything!” My Father is the BEST father in the whole world!” Once again, it is all about love – His love for me and mine for Him. Even this final doxology is sailing on a sea of love!

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you…” Jesus adds this thought, no doubt to emphasize one of our most likely failures – our refusal to forgive others, how prone we are to carry grudges, to let resentment fester in our hearts. When our Father has poured out so much love and compassion into our lives, we need to be reminded to share that with others. He is a God of grace to us and we should be becoming gracious people to others. As Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

This Lord’s Prayer allows you and me to sail in this sea of God’s love. May we receive the blessing from His big heart and love Him in return. Then may His grace flowing through us invite others to come sail with us!

 

Matthew 6:9–15 “Rising Above”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Therefore, you (pl.), pray thus: Our Father who [is] in the heavens, may Your name be hallowed. ¹⁰Your kingdom come; Your desire be done on earth as also in heaven. ¹¹Give to us today our daily bread, ¹²and forgive to us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, ¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one], because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen. ¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins. 

Before I leave this study and go back to finish the book of Daniel, there are a couple more thoughts I’d like to record. Back to v.11, “Give us this day our daily bread” -- this one still completely floors me. This simple little verse exemplifies exactly why I study the Bible. The Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts…” Paul warned us, “See that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition…rather than on Christ” (Col. 2:8). In my redeemed heart, I want to think God’s thoughts. I want to see this world through His eyes. However, I’m deeply disappointed to find almost constantly that I (and the modern church with me) are literally shot through with human traditions, doing exactly what Paul warned us not to do.

This verse is case in point. I think any of us would leave the praises of vv. 9,10 and go then straight to v.12, “Forgive us our debts…” We would all insist that first and foremost we should deal with our sins and our spiritual issues – certainly not to our “mere” physical needs! However, notice, that is not Jesus’s order. He goes straight from praise to our physical needs. If we’re paying close attention that seems out of order to us! I believe this seemingly simple little conundrum exposes what is in fact an underlying Gnosticism that infects our minds today. Sometimes it’s called “asceticism,” sometimes “dualism.” To see what I’m getting at, consider this quote:

“A philosophy that emphasizes spiritual matters while disregarding or devaluing the physical is most commonly known as "spiritual dualism" or simply "dualism," particularly as found in Platonic or Gnostic traditions. In these worldviews, the immaterial or spiritual realm is seen as more real or valuable than the physical, sometimes leading to neglect or negative views of the body and material existence. This approach has also historically manifested itself as "asceticism," where individuals practice severe self-discipline and abstention from bodily pleasures for spiritual purposes. Other related terms include "Platonism" (from Plato's philosophy) and "Gnosticism," especially when there is an outright belief that matter is evil or to be transcended.​ These philosophical tendencies are often critiqued for leading to an imbalanced view of human life, neglecting the interconnectedness and worth of both the physical and spiritual aspects of existence.”

I hope you see what I mean. Is that not exactly what our modern thinking would have you believe? Spiritual is important, but physical is always sort of a necessary evil that just gets “in the way” of what really matters. I once heard a pastor tell his poor congregation, “Your job is just the way you make money. The ministries of this church are what really matters.” How do you balance that with Titus 2:9,10, that says the way you work actually “adorns the doctrine of God our Savior,” or Col. 3:23 where we are instructed, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” From the very beginning, the Lord put Adam in the Garden “to work it and to till it.” What is, in reality, man’s “Great Commission” is “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Gen. 1:28).

I maintain that the very order of the Lord’s Prayer ought to call us out of this unbiblical Gnosticism. Instead of disdaining the physical, the Bible tells us our Lord “knows our frame, that we are but dust.” Most of the Bible from cover to cover is people living their lives in this very real world, spending most of their time simply working. Practically every one of Jesus’s parables is provided in the setting of people’s simple everyday lives – sowing seed, searching for lost coins, dealing with prodigal children, etc. When Jesus commands us to “love God and love people,” He isn’t thinking we all need to jump on a plane and go somewhere halfway around the world to do “spiritual good.” There may be a time for that, but, for most of us, living this command to love begins right in our homes with our wives and children, with the people we work with all day every day, with our next-door neighbors. A HUGE part of that love ought to be happening right in our simple mundane workaday lives. And why don’t we see that? I’m suggesting it is because we’re infected with Gnosticism, this disdain for all things physical.

Jesus isn’t. Being our Creator, He is more than aware that we are physical beings. Without our bodies, we cannot even participate in this world. He goes so far as to tell us our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Good, solid Reformed theology teaches us to respect our bodies, to respect our work, our families, and our daily lives. Just like Jesus, it would teach us a Biblical philosophy of this physical/spiritual balance we are all called to live in.

Bread. Simple bread. Jesus would have us ask for that, even before we deal with issues of forgiveness! At absolute minimum, that ought to give us reason to pause and challenge our view of life. Am I really seeing life through God’s eyes, or is my mind infected with this incipient Gnosticism, this unbiblical disdain for the physical?

Early in my Christian life, I had to deal with this. I’ve been a runner since I was 15 years old. Suddenly I found myself a 20-something year old with a wife and children with a full-time job and very involved in my church. It seemed like I didn’t have time to run anymore, and I struggled with whether I even should. Then I realized, if I’m going to take care of my family, go to work every day, be active in church ministries, etc., I can do those things best if I’m healthy.

At that time, I probably couldn’t even pronounce “Gnosticism” or “asceticism,” but I think the Lord just kindly gave me the sense that, although I seemed to naturally think otherwise, the exercise was important. I’m glad I did stick to it. Now I’m almost 69 years old, still running, still not overweight, and still not on blood pressure medication. Over the years the Lord has put me in situations which were very physically demanding, yet I was able to rise to the occasions, whether they were church ministries or simply caring for my family. Running with other people, including my own children, has given me great opportunities to enjoy relationships. Visiting Dad in New Hampshire, with me in my 40’s, the kids said, “Hey, Dad! Let’s climb a mountain!” I was able to confidently say, “Sure! Let’s do it!” and we did. I am frequently able to converse with both guys and gals, both young and old, just because we’re all runners.

This incipient Gnosticism, this disdain for all things physical, would have left me just another couch potato and unable to enjoy any of those blessings. As we see here in the Lord’s Prayer, He knows you and I cannot serve Him without a body. Even Jesus Himself is saying to do your best to be healthy (“Give us this day our daily bread”), before we dive into the spiritual matters of our lives (“Forgive us our debts…). I personally do not believe it’s an “either/or” matter, it is a “both/and.” We need to do our best to be healthy both physically and spiritually. What I’m suggesting then is, while we all naturally would agree that spiritual issues are very important, we need to step back and make sure we aren’t then disdaining the physical. Jesus wants us to do both.

Lord, help us all. Help us see our lives through Your eyes. Help us order our lives according to Your priorities. Help us to give “the more earnest heed” to what our Bibles teach and deliver us from Bible-ignorant and damaging traditions. Help us to rise above it all and to see past those “human traditions,” to build our lives “on Christ!”