As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it seems quite appropriate to highlight the fact that gratitude is the opposite of entitlement. The more we feel entitled...to our money, our belongings, our families, our [insert whatever]...the less we feel any real sense of gratitude. After all, if we are owed what we have (or what we don't), then we don't need to be grateful about it.
Nothing highlights these opposites more than the transition from Thanksgiving into Black Friday. What has been set aside as a day to celebrate and give thanks for all of our blessings has become more and more corrupted by the entitlement of the grand daddy of all shopping days, Black Friday. Think about it...we've watched Black Friday deals happen earlier and earlier - to the point where stores are now opening on Thanksgiving evening in order for people to get a jump on their shopping. After all, they're entitled to get a good deal, right? Right?!?
Let's be intentional about reversing this alarming trend: instead of getting caught up in the hype and the entitlement of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, let's take even more time to be grateful, and allow our gratitude to spill over into Black Friday (and beyond) rather than vice versa. The remedy for entitlement is gratitude, after all, so the remedy for our culture's misplaced priorities is to be intentional about ensuring we stand for something different. Christians, I'm talking to you. Don't just say, "Oh well, that's just how it is." No. Don't accept it. Fight it, and fight for a counter-cultural revolution. That's what Jesus did, and what God calls us to do as well.
And for his revolutionary love, I am eternally grateful.
