Remember the daughter who asked her mother why she always trimmed her pot roast before cooking? The mother said, “I learned it from my mother—I don’t know why she did it. Let’s ask her.” Her mother said, “I learned it from my mother—I don’t know why she did it. Let’s ask her.” Great grandma said, “I don’t know why my daughter and granddaughter cut the roast, but I trimmed it to fit my small pot.” Two of those women missed the purpose of their tradition. But when God gave Abraham a tradition to follow, He gave him the reason for doing it. It symbolized God’s promise to bless Abraham and his descendants. We read in Acts Ch. 7 how as Stephen defended himself before the religious council, he recalled God’s covenant with Abraham. God’s promise to ancient Abe served until His descendant, the Messiah arrived. Jesus paid the price for sin, adopts believers into God’s family, and bestows upon us Christ’s perfect righteousness. Just before He went to the cross, Jesus gave us a new tradition: The bread and cup remind us of His broken body and shed blood offered up to pay our sin debt and secure for us eternal life.
