There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Isaiah 11:1-5

A few days ago my wife and I landed on a conversation about traditions.  She had recently listened to an excerpt on the importance of traditions within a family.  The conversation was about how valuable traditions are to kids in providing a sense of security and belonging.  I’m a big traditions kind of guy and growing up, many of them were found in and around the Christmas season.  Anyone else feel like they had to have a real tree at Christmas, and it needed to be ginormous? 

Growing up, we had to go to the Christmas parade, and then we had to go to Dunkin Donuts afterwards.  Nothing seemed to be more important than showing up for breakfast Christmas morning at Mama Jo and Granddaddy's…yep all 60 of us.  (You can imagine how this created some marital strife down the road). 

And while these are important, some traditions run even deeper.  They are attached to our senses…. like how the smell of fresh cut grass never fails to connect me to a football Friday night. My wife says the smell of coffee in the morning reminds her of her grandparents’ home.  Christmas no doubt brings some traditions to our families.  What are some of your traditions? Reading the Christmas story, staying at home on Christmas morning, and baking cinnamon rolls from grandmother’s recipe are all now a part of ours. 

Our physical traditions are attached to our emotions.  They conjure up memories of something often cherished and longed for.  I just can’t help but to wonder if Isaiah 11 didn’t provide a glimpse of what God’s people hoped for.  I wonder if every time they saw a small green shoot coming up out of an old rotten stump it didn’t stir up some emotions of “I just can’t wait!” They would have memorized these words from Isaiah and been on the lookout for the One that would soon appear and rescue them.  They would be recipients of his wisdom, understanding, his counsel and his might.  This Warrior would deliver them from the iniquities they faced daily.  He would be the Hope when all seems hopeless; the Life when all seems lifeless. 

We know His name to be Jesus.  We have the gift of looking back and looking forward.  Jesus is better than my traditions! Much like the Israelites, Jesus gives me hope of what is to come.  But like my traditions, I can look back on what has been done, what has been accomplished and know I have already been rescued!  While the smell of mint reminds me of Mama Jo’s lambchops, and I catch a whiff of Grandaddy’s flowers every so often, it's God’s word that reminds me of who He is and who I am.  In verse 2 it says the Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  I know that is the same Spirit that lives in me.  He imputes His wisdom, understanding and counsel to me.  He is my Warrior and goes before me.  His faithfulness is daily and His righteousness I’ve inherited.  Oh how wonderful to be on this side of those verses and to not have to wonder when the Savior would come.  Oh how wonderful to know our Savior, born for us in the town of Bethlehem, was, is, and will forever be our Emmanuel!

Brad & Angie Boleman