Black Friday

Black Friday – the day retailers hope that their income statement will transition from red to black, loss to profit. For, us, as believers, we each have a “black Friday” in our lives. It became available for us over 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross in payment for our sins. The day you surrendered your life to Jesus became your own personal “black Friday” - the day you surrendered your life to Him. On that day, your life went from loss to profit; from debtor to free. On that day, Jesus blotted out all of your sins and failures. There is absolutely nothing written on the debt side of your ledger. And then, and then, Jesus didn’t stop there. He wrote many, many things on your credit side – all the privileges you now have access to because you asked Him to pay the debts you couldn’t pay. And He made a deposit as His guarantee – He placed the Holy Spirit inside you as His guarantee of payment. (Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.) Many of the stores charge extra for extended guarantees – Jesus does not. 

On which side of the ledger are you living? Do you still see debts that Jesus blotted out? Satan remembers them; you probably do too. He loves to remind you of them. But, Satan has no access to your ledger. He can’t rewrite what Jesus has erased. His marker doesn’t work, but his voice does. Colossians 2:14 reminds us that Jesus nailed our debts to the cross and declares them paid in full. Satan is like an old creditor who calls and claims you still owe. Hang up on him. He has no claim on you. 

Whether you venture out to the malls or not today, enjoy Black Friday. Take a moment and draw a ledger sheet with the left side labeled “debts” and the right side labeled “credits”. Leave the left side blank (because that’s how God sees it). On the right side write out just some of the things Jesus has placed on your credit side. Or just bow your heart right now and thank Him for those things. 

Tomorrow we will begin our holiday journey through the first sections of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. 

Love in Jesus, 

cathy