One of the things that sticks out the most in the minds of my kids on that memorable first trip to Europe was the cooler.

It was actually my wife’s idea, and it was a logical one: We could save money by stocking up on fresh fruit and veggies in the local farmer’s markets and keep them fresh in the cooler. The only problem is, purchasing ice in Europe isn’t a thing! Or at least, I didn’t know where to buy it!

I probably should have explained this to her before we left, and the cumbersome box could have stayed at home, but I didn’t realize she was planning on taking it, and I didn’t even notice it until we got off the plane in France! Yes, I admit, sometimes I have my head in the clouds, but that’s why you have teenage boys, right?

To their credit, our boys gallantly carried that cooler. Fortunately we could generally stow it into the back of the rental car, but there was this one time…

Our plan was to spend three days in the beautiful village of Zermatt, the place to go to view the famous mountain, the Matterhorn. Since cars are not allowed in Zermatt, we would have to take the train, and since we weren’t supposed to leave anything in our vehicle at the train station, the cooler dutifully came with us.

It wasn’t until we got out of the train station that we realized our hotel was on the complete opposite side of Zermatt. Zermatt may not be big, but when you’re pulling heavy luggage, including a useless cooler, it suddenly seemed enormous!

Again, the boys were troopers; but the look on their faces spoke volumes: Why were we transporting this crazy—and empty!—cooler? I think in retrospect, we should have taken a family vote and disposed of the thing; but we didn’t…

It all reminds me of religion and the religions traditions we so often get so caught up in. The Bible has some rather colorful things to say about these human traditions: “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'” (Isaiah 29:13 NIV).

What kinds of traditions are we talking about here?

Certainly not the kind that bring us closer to God.

However, it is so common to meet people who have gone to church their entire lives who don’t know Jesus. Why? Because they do all the right things, they go through all the right actions, following all the human rules they have been taught, but their hearts are far from God. And when we go through the right motions without really taking the time or effort to mediate on the true meaning, these traditions become like that empty cooler: Cumbersome, useless, getting in the way of truly knowing God.

Let’s take the celebration of Lent and the Passion week, for a recent example. There is nothing more beautiful than spending time meditating on the greatest of gifts, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! But when our Lent fasts become rote, when the only time we think about Jesus at all is during the church services before we rush off to a family dinner, then celebrating becomes as useless as that cumbersome cooler!

We can take the commandments as another example. Should we keep them? Yes, absolutely! But when we simply keep the letter of the law, then we are carrying around empty, heavy coolers that serve no purpose! Jesus said it like this: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:21,22 NIV). He went on to summarize the commandments as such: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV).

Let’s stop carrying around these empty, useless, burdensome traditions and religious acts. Rather, let’s use them to draw us closer to God. Let’s serve God with all of our hearts and souls and minds and spirits. Let’s love another as Jesus loves us. Let’s meditate on each and every tradition and let it be a tool for helping us to come closer to Jesus! Let’s drop the empty coolers of religion and take up a friendship with Jesus instead!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries

(To access the entire “Europe Here We Come” devotional series, please click here!)