Competition

It's a good thing to be competitive. Competition raises our level of achievement. It pushes us to excellence. Remove competition and we all fall into mediocrity. I am amazed at the opposition I hear and read about from the more liberal Americans, especially in education circles, wanting to eliminate competitive activities in our schools. Their excuse is that some children will experience rejection and develop a poor self-image. What a ton of hogwash. Can you imagine a school with no grading system so that no one will have to endure failure. What a crock. I believe that comes from someone who never wanted to compete and probably didn't have the ambition to achieve anything.

We are challenged in the Bible to compete. The Apostle Paul said that he pressed toward the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. He competed. He also wrote from the approach of the athlete running a race for a prize. His point was that the runner didn't enter the race to be an also ran. He entered to win. Our Heavenly Father put the competitive element in our makeup and He expected us to win. He gave us dominion over the earth to rule and subdue it.

If you look at the world when God gave that command, there wasn't anything to rule over, except one being. Satan! The Father had banished Satan to earth as his judgment for trying to exalt himself over God's throne. When he was sent here it wasn't to be the ruler of the earth. Adam, after his creation, was told to rule over Satan and keep him subdued in his personal prison. The reason we have so much problem with Satan and his kingdom today is because Adam was not obedient to the Father and did not rule his household well. His wife, lured by the Serpent, convinced Adam that to partake of the fruit of the forbidden tree, The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, against the command of God. In eating the fruit, Adam allowed Satan to surplant God as his Father and became enslaved to his own will that was ruled by a sin nature, placed there by Satan when he took authority over man.

The only way that this dominion, that was taken through deceitfulness, can be restored is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The reason that God chose this method is far beyond my comprehension. However, I don't question my God who through His knowledge, power, and presence was able to create all that we see today in the universes. He chose that method to return Satan to the place of his imprisonment. Satan held the keys to death, hell, and the grave. No one had ever been resurrected from the dead without the intervention of a prophet, according to the Bible and its comtemporary writings. When Jesus raised himself up, he took the keys from Satan and returned him to his place of prison. He also gave us back the authority over Satan and the earth that was given to us at creation.

I am well aware that there are those in our world that think that this is idiot logic, but I don't think it has anything to do with logic. The Bible, written by anointed men over the centuries, has never been proven false. Not one verse has ever been disputed so that it could be removed from its writings. Of the over 500 prophecies accounted in the Scriptures all have been fulfilled or yet to be fulfilled without error. The cities of the world that have been chronicled in the Scriptures have all been verified as existing. No other spiritual writing can make that claim and back it up with evidence. Its not logic, it is verified fact.

I challenge anyone to take the time to read the Bible and try to dispute it. You can try, but you will find not only is it true, but you will probably find that you need Jesus Christ as your Savior. Notice that I challenged you. That's a competitive word. You will have to compete to try and discredit the Word of God. I will tell you that you will loose, but in loosing there will be a great transformation. You will find the Lord and you will win, but your win will be found in eternal life with the Lord through the salvation provided by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Don't ever stop competing. Compete in your job. Compete in your play. Compete in your destiny. Never give up even if you fail. Remember that failure only sets you up for the next success. The Bible says that a righteous man falls seven times, but get back up and continues to compete. We are fortunate today that we don't have to compete to the death to share our convictions like the Apostles were subjected. We have the freedom to share without the fear of death. We may experience some rejection, but that is a small pitance in comparison. Make this your motto: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The only thing that is impossible is nothing.