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!

Manger to the Cross

Last night our church put on our traditional Christmas play. We based our play on the book, "The Three Trees." In this story we see three trees all with a different wish. One wants to be turned into a beautiful box to carry the most valuable treasures in the world. The second one wants to be made into a mighty sailing vessel to carry kings across the seas. The third wants to be left on the mountain and point to God, so when people see him, they will be reminded of God. As the story goes, one is cut down and turned into a manger. He is overcome with disappointment, until one night when baby Jesus is placed inside of it. He knew that he was holding the greatest treasure ever known. The second tree is turned into a small fishing boat. Just as disappointed as the first one was until it found out that Jesus was on board and calmed the seas. He knew that he was carrying the King of Kings. The third tree was pieced together and had to endure a jeering crowd. Then they nailed a man to him. He felt ugly and ashamed. However, He knew after that day that every time that someone looked at him, they would remember the sacrifice on the cross.

My part was interesting. I got to play the part of a disciple in one scene and a Roman soldier in another scene. I know you are probably saying that would be kind of hard. But is was interesting working out the logistics of it. But the part I enjoyed the most was being the Roman soldier. I have talked with several people who said they could not play that part. And I understand that. But it meant a lot to me to put Christ on the cross. It really brought it home to me that it is because of my sin that He had to die on that cross. It was a good reminder to me of what His sacrifice was to me. A chance for eternal life.

Now some people have asked me why we did the whole story? Well, is that not the message of Christmas? It is not just about celebrating His birth. But, the fulfillment of a promise to us as told in the Old Testament. He had to be born before He could die, or the resurrection would mean nothing. He had to become a man, just like me and you.

John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He came to pay a debt that He did not owe, and that we could never pay. He did this so we could have eternal life with Him. That is the true meaning of Christmas. We can see this in our favorite Christmas Carols. If you look at "Away in a Manger", "Joy to the World", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and so on, you will see that they all start with verses about His birth. Then they talk about His life, and ultimately Him as King and Savior of this world. So this year, as we remember His birth, let us also celebrate His life, death, and resurrection as well.

Thanks for reading, God Bless, and Merry Christmas!