They call it “Black Friday!” The day after Thanksgiving has become, for many, the official launch of the Christmas shopping season. Although Santa has been at the mall for weeks, there is something about this day that triggers a frenzy many would rather avoid. The stores open so early that some shoppers won’t get any rest at all. The amazing deals are so tempting that people are often willing to skip sleep, wait in long lines, and wrestle through crowds just to save a few bucks.

The term “Black Friday” has various origins. Arguably, it was first coined to describe the traffic congestion and chaos that occurred on the streets before gridlock became an everyday term. Later, it was used to mark the day when retailers finally moved out of the unprofitable “red” and into the “black.” Over the past decade, however, reports of bad behavior—sometimes even outright violence—have given the term a darker meaning. What was once a celebration of holiday sales has, for some, become a symbol of the depravity of the human soul, as the true messages of Thanksgiving and Christmas are overshadowed by a more insidious focus on greed.

If Thanksgiving meant anything at all on Thursday, it remains essential on Friday and throughout the year. The attitude of gratitude that lies at the core of the holiday is a lifestyle choice that has the power to transform everything.

We live in an era of icons and trademarks, and Thanksgiving has been well branded, with its recognizable images of cartoon turkeys and pilgrims in funny hats with buckles on them. When surveyed, most Americans recognize this symbolism as a respite from school and work, filled with food, family, and football. However, a closer examination of the original Thanksgiving documents, left behind by the real pilgrims, offers a poignant reminder of the true intent: a prayerful community acknowledgment of indebtedness to God and worshipful expressions of gratitude for provision, protection, and blessings in the name of Jesus Christ.

In the process of establishing our nation, George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving address included the following:

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness…and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions…to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue.”

A century later, Abraham Lincoln, witnessing signs of spiritual decay in his generation, boldly sought to call a wandering nation back. In his famous Thanksgiving Proclamation, he wrote:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

May our prosperity not distract us, and the Black Friday bargains not cloud our hearts. The fruit of authentic thanksgiving is not self-centeredness. Let’s be among those who count our blessings, give more, take less, are slow to anger, and are generous in blessing others.