The Real Black Friday

I simply love this time of year.  Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday.  Taking a specific time out of the year, and yes away from work, to do nothing more than to be thankful for all that God has blessed me with.  I also enjoy this time of year because I was born on Thanksgiving day.  It always seems nice to mix the turkey, dressing, and all the fixings with birthday cake!  And as much as I had dreaded my next birthday this year (saying goodbye to my 20's), I felt the need to look at my life and see all the ways that I had been blessed these 30 years.  And with those blessings in mind, look to the future at what God may have in store for me in the next 30 years.  I am truly thankful for all the things that I have been blessed with.  Most importantly, my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Savior.  Now I know you may be thinking, where is he going with this since to post is titled about this coming Friday.

Psalms 95:1-3
"O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods,"

It is an odd thing to me at what happens this time of year.  Now I will admit that my wife and I do get a lot of shopping done on the day after Thanksgiving.  But we do not let it take away from the joy of this time of year like many people do.  It is amazing that the people in this country that I love will spend an entire day being thankful for what they have, and the next day act like rabid animals to try to secure what they want.  It just seems peculiar to me.  Now I am not including everyone in this, because I have friends that view it just the same way I do.  It is a good chance to get a lot of gift shopping done for a low price.  My wife and I usually make a date day out of it.  A time to enjoy being with each other away from the kids.  But for a lot of people, where is the thanks?  The only conclusion that I can come to is the lack of Christ in their lives.  One who is truly saved has the mindset of the psalm above.  Singing, whether aloud or just in our hearts, for the joy that we have in our salvation through Christ Jesus.  These are one of the things that should be foremost in our minds, not just one day a year in Thanksgiving, and then truly forgotten the day after.  So I would like to turn attention to what I feel is the real Black Friday of Christianity.

Luke 23:33-49
"When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things."

I will be honest with you.  I was lead to this idea over Facebook last night.  My wife found a picture on Facebook referring to this idea, and when I checked my own page, I found that quite a few on my friends list had shared it as well. These events that took place on a Friday are the fundamental basis for all that we as Christians should be thankful for.  For if it were not for his death on the cross, we would have no hope of eternal life.  He paid the ultimate price for us as a gift of life.

Romans 6:22-23
" But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Our life no longer belongs to us.  By being declared sanctified, and receiving eternal life through His sacrifice we must become slaves to His will.  Now I know that term "slave" is not a popular one.  However, it is repeated all throughout the scriptures.  Some versions have made it sound nicer by using the phrase bond-servent.  But the original Greek word there in those places is literally translated to slave.  Which, in essence means that we live to serve Him.  It does not matter how it may affect our live styles and the things that we want.  It is all about Him.  And if it were not for Him, we would all go to Hell.  As Paul wrote to the church at Rome above, the wages of sin is death.  Death is the only payment option valid for the sin in our lives.  Jesus paid that price for us.  And for that, we should be forever thankful.  Thankful that we have the opportunity to go to heaven when our time comes.  It is the only way.

It is my prayer that I and those around me will be thankful everyday for this gift, not just this Thursday.  However, I also pray that each of you that read this make it a point on Thursday when you are with family and friends celebrating this time, that you would openly voice your thanks for the sacrifice that was made for you on the Christian Black Friday.  Even if you have family there that are not believers.  What greater opportunity does that provide us to share the gospel with those who do not believe.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you have a very enjoyable and "Thankful" Thanksgiving.  May God Bless you all!

Black Friday

I do not believe in my 29 years on this earth that I have ever seen the madness that is evident on "Black Friday." A day when common sense seems to go out of the window, all for the purpose of great deals for Christmas. People stand in lines for hours, sometimes through bitter cold, just to be the first ones in line for the item they covet for either themselves or as a gift to someone else. Our Television sets and internet pages are full of violence surrounding this day. People getting trampled, pepper sprayed, arrested, and even killed all for the sake of what they believe Christmas is all about.

Now I will admit, my wife and I did go shopping early. We got up at 4 am to head down to the stores for some of the sales. And we do save a lot of money. However, you would not see me grabbing, and snatching, and even fighting over specific items. However, my wife and I never take our mind off of what the true meaning of Christmas is. As a matter of fact, one of our main stops this year was at LifeWay Christian Book Store. And I noticed some things that were very encouraging while I was there. Number one; It was the longest line that we waited in to make a purchase. My wife and I had to wait over and hour and a half in line to check out. At Toys R Us, we did not have to wait in line at all. It was heart warming to see all of those people buying gifts with Christian influence for their loved ones. Number two; everyone was in a friendly mood. I got the chance to strike up many conversations about church, Christ, and the true meaning of Christmas. And every person that I talked to was in full agreement. There was no pushing, yelling, or fighting over gifts. Number three; I noticed much love and compassion in that store. Now, when you are in a line that long, someone is going to have to go to the bathroom. Especially since the people working the store were passing out warm drinks for everyone in line. I noticed numerous times, people leaving their spot in line to use the restroom. And the people behind them, held their spot in line for them, and even offered to hold their basket of items for them. It is amazing how the atmosphere can change when you are with a huge gathering of fellow Christians.

Now with all this going on last week, I wondered. What would it be like if everyone put the same effort in to seeking Christ, as they do that gift they want to buy. Many people fight hard and do some of the most amazing things when they find out that they can get something for free on Black Friday. But, why do they not do the same thing for salvation. Salvation through belief in Christ Jesus as our Master and Savior is a free gift. The price has already been paid. Jesus gave His life, on a cross so that we might have eternal life for free.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Romans 10:9-10
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Acts 4:11-12
"He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Ephesians 1:13
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,"

So, why are people not waiting in line to receive salvation? I think one of the main problems is advertising. Do they know about Christ, and His sacrifice? Do they understand that without Him they are condemned? Do they know exactly how much God loves them? We see all sorts of advertizements on TV, newspapers, and catalogs on all the things on sale. So how do we advertize? We witness to others. We tell them the story of Jesus. We tell them the gospel(good news). And this season is the perfect opportunity. We will come into contact with so many people this time of year, and we should seize every opportunity to share with them the true meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of our Savior. We stand beside them in line. We visit them at family get-togethers. We sit beside them in a crammed food court. There are so many opportunities that we have to advertize for Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Acts 22:15
"For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard."

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

So I encourage you today, do not let the true meaning of this season be forgotten in all that we do. And make sure to take time to tell someone of our Savior's birth, and the gift of salvation that He brought with Him.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week!