Black Friday Saved My Life

 
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

1 Peter 4:10 


Many people avoid Black Friday as if it was the plague or something. Not me, I live for it. I love reading about the first Black Friday as if it was yesterday. The merchants had spent months preparing for the people to arrive. Though the town is small in size and the population normally around six hundred thousand people, by the time the holiday arrived  the city housed some three million people. You can hardly breathe let alone walk as there are so many people crammed into such a small area. And the fees they charge you for everything from a piece of fresh fruit to a hotel room are outrageous. Everyone cashes in on the holiday. Even taxes are higher for the week and the prices people are charged for gifts to offer is just pure robbery. And yet because of the holiday and the desire to enjoy peace for another year the people have no choice than to pay an exorbitant amount of money. Sound familiar? 

You might think I’m writing about the day after Thanksgiving where almost every retail outlet in the United States is packed to the gills with people looking for that perfect gift for themselves or for loved ones. But I’m not talking about Black Friday as we know it now. No, I’m referring to the very first Black Friday in Jerusalem just over two thousand years ago that took place on the celebration of Passover where Jesus, the Lamb of God would go to the Cross and suffer and die for the sins of the world. It’s called Black Friday for a good reason. Luke 23:44-46, “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.”

The worst of mankind was on display that first Black Friday by the way the Son of God was treated and yet Black Friday also reveals the love of God that words alone just can’t express. The greatest gift to mankind became possible that day when Jesus died. God’s salvation, the gift of eternal life became a reality when Jesus sacrificed His life on Calvary’s Cross. No more sacrifices would need to be made as Jesus died once and for all. Jesus sacrifice is why we have reason to celebrate today. Our debt has been paid, our sins removed far away.

Go ahead and stand in those long lines if you like, look for those deals to be had but don’t forget the true meaning of Black Friday. It’s not when retailers go from 'red to black' on their bank ledgers. Black Friday is when the world went black because, “He who knew no sin became sin for us that in Him we could become the righteousness of God.” That first Black Friday went dark because of your sins and mine and then red because of the shed blood of Jesus that covered them in forgiveness and three days later it turned into a glorious celebration when Jesus rose from the dead, proof that our sins were paid for in full. Yes, loved one, Black Friday is the about the best deal in town, the forgiveness of God offered to us in Jesus Christ. And better news still, you don’t need to wait in any line to receive the gift of salvation. Just open your heart to Jesus, invite Him in and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Two Thousand plus years latter its still the best gift ever!

 
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, 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.”

John 1:12-13


I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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