POV it's Black Friday

It's like a really smart reverse strategy: Black Friday and Following Jesus.

What is more valuable: success now or success later?

Picture this. Thanksgiving Day.

My family is in the kitchen.

Hannah (my sister) comments about Black Friday.

My mom talks about why it's called Black Friday. She says it's when stores go from being "in the red" to "in the black." Whether or not the name origin is true, my business/marketing brain considers this concept.

If you are not familiar with retail, think of red and black as a color code. Simply put, if the ending number on the balance sheet is red, the business is losing money. If the ending number is black, the business is earning money.

For every product, a business carefully considers what the price should be. They have to charge enough to cover the costs and make a profit.

It's kind of wild to think that a business strategy is to discount a product to make more money.

Think: a business is losing money. They are in the red. They discount all their products with the hope of a big wave of customers coming through to shop for Christmas. If the promise of the Christmas wave follows through, then the business makes enough money to offset the initial cost and bring their numbers up to black.

The cost of giving up potential profit today results in a better financial position in the long run.

It's like a really smart reverse strategy.

It's like giving up temporary gain today with the hope of a better future. Sound familiar?

For Christians, we should be used to reverse tactics.

Jesus speaks directly on this in Matthew 16:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Just like a business, every person has to make choices that affect the present and the future. Every choice has a consequence.

This analogy may not be perfect, but it gives me an excuse to share the Gospel.

Businesses and People: their lifetime is different.

Businesses come and go. Eventually, they will have a closing date. Unlike businesses, humans have souls, which last for eternity.

A person is born into this world. At the end of their life, they will leave this world, but this is not the end. After a person dies, this person will either go to heaven or hell.

Businesses and People: their definition of success is different.

Generally speaking, the goal of a business is to make a profit.

The goal of a person may be to be rich, to be loved, to be famous, to be secure, to have fun, to leave an impact, and so on.

For people who hope in God, this is not the case. The goal of a Christian person is to be with God.

Businesses and People: the path for long-term success is different.

Every decision has a consequence. Businesses have to constantly make decisions that impact their profit.

What determines whether a person goes to heaven or hell for eternity? It is a single decision they make with their short time on earth.

What kind of decision? It's not about doing "good" or "bad" things. You can't earn your way into heaven by doing good deeds. It's about choosing whether to follow Jesus or not.

Every Christian has a similar story. Before the Christian decided to follow Jesus, this person was lost. Their sin was taking them downhill. This person was in the red, and nothing that this person could do was helping. In order for a person to go to heaven, he or she has to give up his or her own desires. It wasn't until this person decided to give up trying to be a good person and look to Jesus for saving. This person had to recognize that they were in the red and trust that Jesus could bring them to the black.

Businesses and People: the risk and reward are different.

Businesses can take small or big risks that could either positively or negatively impact their reward.

People can take small or big risks, but only one risk will positively impact their eternal reward.

For people, it can be a big risk. Becoming a Christian means not hoping in what you can see. You have to hope in what you cannot see and that God will follow through on His end.

However, some people see it as a small risk relative to eternity. Christians risk small temporary reward in order to gain a large eternal reward.

Unlike a business, we can be confident of the risk we take to become a Christian. God is a loving Father who follows through on His promises. We can be sure that, if we see ourselves in the red and want to change our future by trusting God to save us, God will surely save us.

Like Black Friday for a business, today could be your turning point.

I'll ask the first question again in a different way.

What is more valuable: (1) success now and pain for eternity or (2) sacrifice now and joy for eternity? Would you place your hope in something temporary or something eternal?

If you have not made a decision yet, you actually have. By not making a choice, you have chosen to hope in what is temporary. But that's okay because, if you are reading this, you can still make a choice to follow Jesus today.

What A Christian Means

Becoming a Christian means choosing to follow Jesus for the rest of your life into eternity.

Being a Christian means giving up what I want to do daily and choosing what God would want me to do. Sometimes it makes sense, like doing good things for other people. Sometimes it doesn't make sense.

Choosing God doesn't mean choosing success in this world. It's not wrong to be successful, but that is not the main goal and is temporary. You have to give up what the world cares for, whether that is "security," status, or fame. Choosing God means choosing what God cares for. In return, God promises us eternal salvation and security for our souls in heaven.

Becoming a Christian is a hard decision, but the steps are pretty simple.

1. Recognize you are "in the red" right now and what this means. There is no good deed or amount of good deeds you can do to earn heaven. Whatever good you do, you will still fail (Romans 3:23). Your sins have a cost, which is death or hell (Romans 6:23). Hell is otherwise known as eternity without God. By default, you have earned hell and chosen not to be with God.

2. BUT this was not God's plan for us. God made a way through Jesus (John 3:16). Jesus paid the price for your failure or sins by dying on the cross and coming to life on the third day (Romans 6:10). Where we fail, Jesus pulls through because He loves us (Romans 5:6-8). The second step is to believe this.

3. The third step is the most important: follow Jesus. When you see you are "in the red," you might decide you want Jesus to bring you to the "black." In order for Jesus to do this, you have to give up your worldly desires and choose what God desires. This is where you say, "I give up what this world offers. I'm not perfect, but God is. I believe in God, and I choose to follow Jesus."

What follows is not perfection but a relationship with the God who loves you. It's a journey of faith until the day you get to heaven, where the ultimate reward is an unburdened relationship with God where pure love and joy exist.

See Psalm 16, called "You Will Not Abandon My Soul":

1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”

3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.[b]

4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.[d]

8 I have set the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[e] rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption.[f]

11 You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

BTW - I'm doing a sticker giveaway on Instagram and Facebook. 5 stickers for 5 winners just because (or because of the holiday/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/whatever)! Ends in a week :)))