Black Friday

Let us stop passing judgment on one another.  Romans 14:13

The day after Thanksgiving, "Black Friday", as it's commonly known in America, is a day that retailers open the doors to their stores ultra early and offer sales and special deals to kick off the Christmas sales season.  This year, most retailers already on Thanksgiving day, and throngs of people have flocked to be the first in line to find fantastic deals on generic Blu-Ray players and knock-off name brand HDTVs. 

I made the mistake of wandering into a big name retailer early one morning a few years ago on Black Friday and it was like running with the bulls in Spain.  People were lined up in every aisle of the store and when the sales associates let everyone run wild, it was nothing short of mass chaos.  People were fighting each other for DVD player and hand held video game consoles and, quite honestly, I have never seen such rude behavior while shopping in all of my lifetime.

I chose the above passage for today with the hopes that if you happen to find yourself doing some Christmas shopping today you will consider focusing on the gifts and graces of other people rather than finding their faults.  Sure, you may get cut off by someone in the parking lot or someone just may snatch an item you have waited up all night for, but as believers, we are called to extend the same grace and mercy we have been given by our loving Father.

It's a difficult task, but it can actually be fun.  Try spending Black Friday thinking nothing but good thoughts about other people.  Where you normally feel offended, bless them.  If they curse you, bless them.  Where you normally feel offend, determine to be free of any hostility whatsoever.

Your blindness to others faults will make the world seem a little brighter today!