The New Testament does not instruct Christians to observe a special holy-day of feasting and thanksgiving each November (or October if you are in Canada). Consequently we need to be careful of crossing a line where we begin to uphold Thanksgiving as a biblically instructed and binding religious observance. However, at the same time, it is certainly not wrong for Christians to partake in the national and traditional Thanksgiving commemorative observance. Christians are to continually be thankful, each and every day. It's perfectly fitting for us to also enjoy a day off from work and to gather with family and enjoy a nice meal while making a special effort to be mindful of our blessings. It speaks well of our cultural heritage that we have such a day of thanksgiving, and certainly it is a healthy thing for our nation.

What's disconcerting however, is to see how the whole point of Thanksgiving is gradually being lost in a great irony called "Black Friday." Black Friday has been a big shopping day for a long time, this is nothing new. Many stores have historically offered nice sale prices after Thanksgiving with eager Christmas shoppers in mind. Over the past decade or so however, black Friday has taken a life of its own and for many it is no longer about simple gift shopping or saving a few bucks; it's about greed. People now hardly finish their prayers of thankfulness over their turkey dinner before they start pouring through the ads and planning their quest to acquire more stuff the next day. No, not everyone who goes out and shops on Black Friday is guilty of greed. You can certainly find some good deals that day and it can also be fun. Nothing wrong with that. The point here is about the broader cultural mindset, which does give evidence of greed over thankfulness, as demonstrated in news stories of outbreaks of mob mayhem and even violence on Black Friday in recent years as people trample one another to acquire more stuff.

Each year Black Friday has begun to encroach further and further onto Thanksgiving itself, so much so that Thanksgiving has started to take a back seat to Black Friday. The whole concept of being thankful for a single day is being drowned out by an increasingly frenzied rush to get more things. And now, stores have finally realized that there is just too much money to be gained on this day of thanks and are opening their doors. Now, numerous people will be taken away from the family dinner table of thanks to work instead, like any other day, to make sure consumers can get more stuff. And even more numerous will be the people who abandon the family dinner table of thanks to go out and buy more stuff on the day of thanks. It's not hard to forecast that in not too many years from now, Thanksgiving day may become the biggest shopping day of the year, and the whole point of Thanksgiving may be forever lost to a culture that no longer gives thanks, but only wants more.

"But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, and I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones" (Psalm 52:8-9).