The Day Black Friday Died
Have you been scouring all the online and newspaper ads for the best deals?
Is your virtual shopping cart already stuffed to the brim with the Pre-Black Friday bargains?
How much are you planning to spend (or have already spent) on things you “must” get?
Is it all about Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) this week?
YES, I have also been trapped in this seemingly irresistible shopping spree before, in which all we seem to see and hear is: up to XYZ% OFF, free shipping, limited supplies, ends in less than a day, get yours NOW!
That’s when Black Friday had to die: I broke free from its grip by the power of CONTENTMENT! And I made a list…
What is your Thanksgiving List?
If you haven’t made one, I can show you mine:
I am THANKFUL for:
Life
Family
Work
But, above all, I am thankful for The One who has given me Life, Family, and Work: my Creator!
He has made me glad!
And now I don’t need all the Black Friday deals or anything that would stand in the way of worshipping my God!
Thus, I leave you with pure poetry, a song of Thanksgiving, written in 1875 by a blind woman named Fanny Crosby:
To God be the glory
Great things He has done
So loved He the world
That He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the life gate
That all may go in
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice!
Oh, come to the Father
Through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory
Great things He has done
Oh, perfect redemption
The purchase of blood
To every believer
The promise of God
The vilest offender
Who truly believes
That moment from Jesus
A pardon receives
Great things He has taught us
Great things He has done
And great our rejoicing
Through Jesus the Son
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport,
When Jesus we see!
So, this Thanksgiving holiday, what are you celebrating?
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 (NIV)
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
PSALM 103:1-4 (NIV)
Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.
COLOSSIANS 2:6-7 (NKJV)
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
ISAIAH 12:4-5 (NASB)
And on that day you will say, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted." Praise the LORD in song, for He has done glorious things; let this be known throughout the earth.
JAMES 1:17 (NIV)
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
1 CHRONICLES 16:34 (ESV)
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
HEBREWS 12:28 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
PSALM 95:1-5 (NKJV)
Oh come, let us sing 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 the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth' the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 (NIV)
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
PSALM 118:24 (ESV)
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
COLOSSIANS 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
1 CHRONICLES 29:13 (NKJV)
"Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name."
EPHESIANS 5:18-20 (NASB)
… but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.
PSALM 107:1-3 (ESV)
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
HEBREWS 13:15 (NIV)
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.
PSALM 119:1-8 (NIV)
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.
Blessed are those who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart — they do no wrong but follow His ways.
You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:15 (NIV)
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
