“A competitive world has two possibilities for you.

You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.” (Lester Thurow)


Do you work?

Do you hold a position in a company?

If you do, then what is the bottom line? In other words, why do you have a job or hold a position in that particular company?

Very simply, it’s so that the company can not only make a profit, but to hopefully become one of the premier suppliers of either services or products.

You see, there are a myriad of reasons that numerous companies fail; but, whenever any one of them goes down, the ramifications are extensive. People who once had a source of income no longer do, customers have to find another place to obtain what they need, suppliers are forced to look for other similar businesses, towns and cities lose a tax base, and real estate companies then have an empty space with no revenue. These are only a few of the many repercussions, but they give you a general idea of the issues that arise.

Now, I’m not trying to get into anything concerning the business arena, except to make a point that speaks of something beyond business. And for that I want to say that many companies which fail do so because they become stagnant. Instead of anticipating a continually changing market and being proactive, they end up reacting; and that’s usually too little too late.

With that said, consider this.


“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
(Romans 12:1 and 2)


One of the things that pretty much every one of us has heard is that the Lord accepts us just as we are. That’s absolutely, unequivocally true. And we also know that there’s nothing we can do to be accounted worthy of His salvation. But there’s something that is vital to every one of us.

He requires us to change.

This isn’t an option that we have, nor a choice that we should be undecided about making. And He doesn’t come to us with “pretty please with sugar on it”.

He requires us to change.

Beside the portion of Scripture in Romans, there are numerous other places where God instructs us to allow Him to change us.

But it’s not something that He does alone. As a matter of fact, He won’t necessarily do anything. You see, even though He requires us to change, He waits for us to submit our will to Him. Then and only then will He do the work within us that’s needed. And our part is to continue to submit to Him. After all, He hasn’t given us His Spirit simply to bless us; but He’s with us to guide us, to teach us, to strengthen us, to correct us, and to change us into the likeness of Jesus.

As long as we let Him.

We have to understand, therefore, that it’s a competitive world out there; but not in exactly the way we think.

We’re in a war of eternal consequences.

Satan has been doing all that he possibly could to bring down and destroy every person on the face of the earth; but he’s targeted God’s people above all others. So, when we give into our carnal Adamic nature, we enable him. True: the Lord won’t allow him to completely overcome us; but every instance of submitting to our flesh makes it more difficult for God’s Spirit to change us.

So we have two choices.

We can stay as we are, and we can lose out on all that God has for us.

Or, if we want to win, we can work with Him to change.