Paint it Black

This Friday ‘Black Friday’ was unleashed!

Traditionally Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November). It has been regarded as the start of the Christmas shopping period in the USA since 1932. many shops open up early and offer promotional discounts.

This shopping trend is now not limited to the USA & Canada, but has crossed the pond and is now becoming part of our culture in the UK with deals not only in shops, but also online; after-all, who doesn’t love a good bargain?

However, the downside to this crazy shopping day is that it focusses us on getting, buying and having more stuff. As if our lives revolved around the accumulation of wealth. It’s quite ironic that this day marks the start of the ‘Christmas’ shopping period.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The celebration of God becoming man to live amongst us and die upon a cross to pay the price for all our sins. All our mess.

The King of Heaven came and humbled himself. He wasn’t born in a palace as the son of a King; but was born to a carpenter and his young wife and placed in an animal’s  feeding trough.

Black Friday gets us focussing on the wrong things; that’s why I chose the title ‘Paint it black’, like the Rolling Stones song which is about suffering from depression and seeing everything as black and somber despite it being jolly or happy.

Also, if our focus in life is to just get more stuff, that can lead to depression.

God has made us for relationship with Him, and everything in life is meant to flow out of that place.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:24-34.

The God who made everything; loves us more than we can imagine and wants us to cultivate and grow in a relationship with Him.

Let’s not get depressed by Black Friday, rather, let us look forward to Christmas and remember God coming to earth. Born as a baby. Born to save.