Tomorrow is known for gathering around a table with family and friends, eating until it’s impossible to eat another bite,  passing out in front of the tv to some football game, only to wake at 2am and fight like bitter rivals for a $20 laptop. It’s a holiday that is distinctive American and one that relishes in our prosperity.

And yet, as Americans we have the highest records of depression over any country. Some would suggest that it has to do with our health system and cultural norms that allow one that admit that they have a problem, and there may be some truth to that.

But, there is also something more at stake, it’s a general feeling of unsatisfaction. This feeling of not having enough is exactly what fuels these malicious attacks that invariably happen on Black Fridays. A hold up, a trampled employee, a fist fight with a complete stranger over who was first in line, all spurned on by this feeling of lacking and the promise that maybe, just maybe, that next new thing will make us happy. That amazingly cheap, got-to-have toy or Christmas deal is what’ll make us complete. It’s a hype that as a nation we fall into every year, and every year after the Christmas season is over there’s a feeling of shortcoming and disappoint after the initial excitement wears. The toys are as quickly forgotten as they were unwrapped.

I want to pause here, and ask what do you treasure the most? Really think about that for a minute, what are you willing to give everything else up for? As you think about it you might be surprised to realize that what you listed wasn’t anywhere in the Thanksgiving weekend circular for any retail store. Period. I talked to a few people and the most common answers I got were love, family, God, and friends.  While I’m not sure what came to your mind I can almost bet that if it doesn’t fall under those four categories, it’s something else that’s of a similar nature.

In this way the country as a whole has trading these joys for material things and the result is almost universally disappointment and a feeling of getting jipped in the long run. Additionally as Christians we are called to live a life that not only are we not focusing on the material things but are actively, continuously, exceedingly, thanking the Lord for what we have. Now this might sound difficult especially when you watch tv, surf the internet, or flip through the paper and see half a dozen things that you had no idea that you needed until you saw it.

To this problem I found this awesome quote, Compare what you want with what you have and you’ll be unhappy.  Compare what you deserve with what you have and you’ll be happy.” Now really think about it. Ponder on what this quote says. What do we deserve? While the media  will tell us we deserve corporate jets, penthouse villas, and a star on Hollywood Blvd, what do we really deserve?

The Bible is quite clear on this matter as to what we deserve. Romans 3:23 says, “We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Furthermore, Romans 6:23 starts by saying, “For the wages of sin is death.” That’s what we deserve, death, and not merely the mortal, earthly death but the eternal wrath of the Lord upon a wicked and sinful soul.

With this in mind it’s quite clear what we can be thankful for. For Christ redeems us.  John 3:16 states that “For God so loved the world, He gave his only begotten son, so whosever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And this promise is the cornerstone upon which we must set our gratitude but it goes from there to the sky in an almost endless parade of blessings. James 1:17 expresses this quite clearly, saying, “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights…”

So as you sit down to gorge yourself on turkey, give pause for the holiday is a religious one. Its intent…to remember just how truly blessed as a nation, as individuals, and a the children of God we really are.

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