I was driving down the street a few weeks ago, when I passed one of my favorite eateries. A sign in the window of that place caught my eye, and reminded me of something I had read just the previous day.

 

Seth Godin is one of those guys I read pretty regularly. His pieces are usually short, to the point, and have value for someone like me who likes to think and create.

 

He recently posted a short but valuable blog about signs in store windows like the one I noticed. He wrote that stores that alert customers to a change, and “Under New Management” announcements might be missing an important reality. Seth said that such a message is a ‘pretty silly thing to write on a store window.’

 

I totally agree.

 

A loyal customer might look at a sign like that and wonder, “Will the new management know my name, or what I like, or even who I am?” And a potential new customer might wonder what went wrong with the previous management that would result in ‘new’ management being needed?

 

As is often the case with Seth Godin’s blogs, he doesn’t quarrel with the idea of ‘new management.’ Instead, he gives an expanded definition for the word ‘new,’ and its application to not only business, but life. He writes, “If you think about it, though, every day, every store is under new management, if we define ‘new’ to mean, “we learned from what happened yesterday … The only way to get better is to walk away from what you used to believe, because the person you become can’t possibly be the same as the person you were.”

 

Every believer has not only become a new creation, but all things have become new! (2Cor.5:17) Walking with Jesus through life involves recognizing the constant need for change and evaluation, in the journey of living the abundant life He promised. There’s a world of difference between my ‘managing life’ as a believer, trying to juggle all my responsibilities, hoping I don’t drop any of them, … and realizing that New Management was established when I committed my life to Christ. Every day I live, I’m ‘under New Management.’ And what that means is that He has not only made the past new, He is making today and tomorrow brand new as well.

 

As I follow the admonitions and encouragement of Rom. 12:1,2, I have both a freedom and responsibility. Being ‘under New Management,’ I can joyfully acknowledge what has changed, as I look back at the way I used to be … but I can also joyfully commit myself to what needs to change in my life; what will require His loving, grace-filled touch in order to change. My ultimate goal? Live a productive and God-honoring life … every day, in the midst of the chaos that can so easily envelop me. Living a life of continual transformation has a tremendous ‘investment opportunity.’

 

Being under New Management with Jesus … pays Eternal dividends!