Black Friday 2011 is history. In fact ... it made history. In the United States, this popular after-Thanksgiving shopping day tradition broke records in sales by $1 billion over last year (up 7 percent). But Cyber Monday (and Cyber Week) broke even more records for spending making it the largest online shopping day ever.
“The week from November 28 (“Cyber Monday”) to December 2 had three individual days that saw more than $1 billion in online spending, led by Cyber Monday, which was the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.25 billion. November 29 reached $1.12 billion and November 30 reached $1.03 billion. These three billion dollar spending days currently rank as three of the four heaviest online spending days in history. For the holiday season-to-date (November 1 – December 2 as measured by the Reston, Va.-based company), $18.7 billion has been spent online, a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.” [1]
“Retailers hired 423,500 people in November for the holidays, the biggest hiring surge for the month since 2007, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said Monday. Research firm comScore Inc. said Sunday that online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving, now known as Cyber Monday, reached $1.25 billion, making it the biggest online shopping day ever. Sales at stores on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, were $11.4 billion, up 7 percent, or nearly $1 billion, from a year earlier, according to a November report from ShopperTrak. That's the largest amount ever spent on the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally considered the first day of the holiday shopping season.” [2]
There is nothing wrong with shopping for a good deal. But has it become an obsession for many to get a good deal? Do we see a madness and craze to get a discount while spending billions? (Have you heard of the violence in some stores on Black Friday?) You begin to wonder, “Is there more to life than getting a good deal?”
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy and said, “In the last days … men shall be … lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1-4). There is a place in the human heart that only God can fill. As we see the signs that point to the soon coming of Jesus, may we remember that nothing can fill the desire for meaning in our lives except God. Not even Black Friday deals can compete.
If you sometimes look at all the holiday spending and wonder if this is a sign of Christ’s soon return, why not consider checking out one of our upcoming Prophecy Seminars? It’s a better deal than all your holiday shopping!
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[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonydemarco/2011/12/04/online-holiday-sales-hit-nearly-6-billion-for-the-week/
[2] http://www.cnbc.com/id/45556406