Thanksgiving Comes Before Christmas

If you’ve been to a store anytime in the past week, you likely noticed the same seasonal schizophrenia I did: a few aisles of Halloween-related candy and creepiness (discounted if it was after Halloween) plus a growing selection of red and green “holiday” decorations and supplies.

Perhaps, in a few stores, there may have been an aisle or two with “give thanks” or “harvest” themes, but the Christmas retail season has been creeping in since September. Thanksgiving Day used to be the switch, but no more.

Start your Christmas shopping! Don’t wait! Get those decorations ready!

We’re old school here at Redeemed Reader. And we think there’s biblical “oomph” behind that stodginess. Yes, we could start promoting our Christmas gift lists–your purchases through those affiliate links every year really do help fund this site. So, THANK YOU.

Give Thanks Before Shopping

But, we think there’s tremendous evidence in Scripture that gratitude is more important than Christmas shopping. We’d like to honor the fact that our country has an entire holiday devoted to giving thanks, and that thanks was originally directed to the Lord. Was that first Thanksgiving perfect? Of course not. Sinners were still involved, and it was messy, like all of human life. The Pilgrims weren’t saints, but neither were the Indians.

Their legacy of giving thanks together is still one we can honor.

Before you start Christmas shopping in earnest, take some time with your families and friends this month and give thanks to the Lord.

• Thank him that you can read.
• Thank him that you live in a time and place where books are easily obtained.
• Thank him that our country has a high literacy rate, that we have multiple schooling options for all citizens, that school buses help children get to schools, that so many parents can afford to have one parent at home teaching their children, that there are multiple Christian schools around the country, and more!
• Thank him that we live in a post-Reformation society and have access to the Bible in English (and, you probably have more than one Bible in your home!).
• Thank him that we can go to church on Sunday to worship without fear of recrimination or persecution.
• Thank him for Jesus: his incarnation, his life, his death, his resurrection, his continual interceding for us.

If you do any shopping for Christmas these next few weeks, make it shopping that will help you and your family give thanks for Jesus. Buy an Advent family devotional. Buy some Christmas books to have around the house for after Thanksgiving. But resist the urge to start buying all your Christmas gifts before you stop and give thanks.

Our own gift-giving guides will be coming out just after Thanksgiving, per our usual custom. We hope you’ll continue to help support Redeemed Reader through your Christmas shopping, and we’ve got some great gift ideas for the book lovers in your life!

In the meantime, we’re going to be promoting the giving of thanks. You can join us by downloading our Thanksgiving Book List. All of the books on the list have been reviewed here on Redeemed Reader, so feel free to search titles for more information!

We’ll also be posting a daily Bible verse and give thanks prompt on Instagram this month (excluding Sundays). Follow and join in!

What are YOU giving thanks for this year? Let us know in the comments!