The event of Black Friday indicates the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The hustle and bustle that begins on Black Friday ignites our passion to make our list and check it twice.

Many of us, myself included, turn into Wilma and Betty with a goal to just “Charge it!” I look at many Black Friday ads searching for the best price of the items on my “list”. After looking at the sales, I make a shopping plan, schedule the times to arrive at particular stores, and make financial preparation days ahead. And, what is the goal of all of this? The smiles on Christmas morning. There is a craziness behind the scenes in preparation of Christmas morning. I know y’all are out there raising your hands with me and nodding your heads in agreement. We truly enjoy the joy we see on the faces of our family when they open their gifts, don’t we?

The beginning of the Christmas season for believers also begins with Black Friday, but not the traditional day after Thanksgiving Black Friday. 

The first “Black Friday” happened when Jesus died on the cross (John 19:30). There were announcements that “Black Friday” was happening. Many people made preparations for the events, yet many people were still unprepared of the knowledge of The Messiah. Unbelief and tradition covered their eyes and their hearts from the Truth. They chose not to believe that Jesus was “the way, the truth, and the life.”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NLT)

Have people changed since the first Black Friday doubting that Jesus is the Messiah?

Advent. The word advent itself means “arrival” or “coming”. The church celebrates the season of Advent in remembrance and celebration of Jesus who came to this earth as our Messiah and will return to take His children home with Him to live eternally. (That makes me wanna stand up and shout Hallelujah!) During the four Sundays and weeks before Christmas, Advent focuses our hearts and minds on Christ with themes of hope, faith, joy, and love. This Advent Season begins December 2 and ends on Christmas morning.

Scott James, in his book, The Expected One, says, “Advent is a brief season that readies our hearts for the celebration. It reminds us that there was a time before the feast, a time when one could only imagine being invited to the King’s banquet table. It calls to mind the longing and anticipation of God’s people as they awaited the promised Messiah, and helps us hone those same sentiments as we await his second coming.”

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:30-33 (ESV)

The angel of the Lord told Mary about the coming of our Savior, her son. I can’t imagine the amount of humbleness and overwhelming knowledge she must have experienced being told that she “had found favor with God” and she would bear the Savior of the world.

Jesus is Coming! Jesus is Coming!

Although Paul Revere is not shouting or riding through the towns, it challenges me to question if I should be?

Do I shout to the world, my town, my family that JESUS IS COMING?

Have I lost the urgency behind the cross?

In this holiday season, I want to remember the first Black Friday. The sacrificial Friday that gave me life eternal through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want to remember that Jesus is Coming. He truly is the greatest gift that was ever given.

If we are intentional to remember that gift, then we can be intentional to share Him with others.

“A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” Luke 6:45 (HCSB)

This season, join me in remembering and celebrating that JESUS IS COMING! Download the free Advent devotional and scriptures, create your own Advent wreath, and remember that Christmas gave us the gift that was given on the original Black Friday.

“What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Because of God’s gift of undeserved grace, Jesus died for everyone. And now that Jesus has suffered and died, he is crowned with glory and honor!”
Hebrews 2:9 (CEV)