By: Lauren Thomas
Today is known as Black Friday. It’s the day after Thanksgiving that, for many, heralds the beginning of the Christmas season. I hold a tradition of waiting until this day to put up my Christmas decorations.
Black Friday is also a day of commercialism and spending. And while I’ve occasionally snatched up a too-good-to-pass deal on this day…(this blog post IS NOT an anti-shopping manifesto)…here is your loving reminder to not let the meaning of Thanksgiving fade so quickly.
On one day, Thanksgiving Day, we celebrate the many things we have and are thankful for. The next day, Black Friday, we seem to get amnesia, replacing gratitude for materialism and a slew of other things that “so easily entangle” (see Hebrews 12:1 NIV; think greed, envy, discontentment, etc.). But gratitude doesn’t have to stop on Thanksgiving! And it actually sets the stage for a much better Christmas season.
Today, I join with Paul in this prayer/exhortation:
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)
During the Christmas season, we remember that Christ is the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6). And here in Colossians, Paul prays for Christ’s peace to rule our hearts (v. 15). At Thanksgiving we are “thankful.” Here, Paul tells us to be thankful (v. 15). At Christmas, we sing all kinds of seasonal songs. As Paul exhorts us, let’s do so with thankfulness in our hearts (v. 16). And whether or not we engage in shopping holiday sales, let’s do everything in Jesus’s name, giving thanks to God the Father (v. 17).
Amen!
Reflection:
How can a heart of gratitude change your experience of the Christmas season?
What is one area in which you need the peace of Christ to rule in your heart?
What has been your favorite Black Friday purchase? (I just had to ask!)
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