The Competitive Edge
Here we are in Broken Bow, OK at Beaver’s Bend – some of this group are avid, die-hard fisher people. There really isn’t competition between those who are – but, deep inside, I know that each one wants to catch the “big one”! I, on the other hand, enjoy the action for a while, some fishing, some photos-taking, but then I’m off for a run to town for something we need or preparing the next meal. No competition for my job! LOL! Then there’s the family competition around the game table – we’re talking serious game play!
But, speaking of “competitive”, I remember last week when I was driving down Dallas Tollway toward home, my wandering eyes took a western-gaze at the Dallas Cowboys Headquarters near my home in Frisco. There was a billboard advertising the Sleep Number mattress that included this catchy slogan. “This isn’t your bed – it’s your competitive edge.” The billboard did what it set out to do – it caught my eye and sent my mind racing. “What do they mean by ‘competitive edge’?”
At home, I googled the Sleep Number bed and found that catchy phrase was right by the Dallas Cowboys Headquarters ON PURPOSE. Apparently, the NFL and Sleep Number Corp. have a multi-year sponsorship deal which puts the Minnesota-based mattress maker on one of the highest marketing platforms in sports business. Through their partnership, every NFL player was offered a Sleep Number 360 smart bed, plus received insights for improving their sleeping habits that could impact their performance on the field. Whew! I sure hope it helps our Cowboys! By now, during this pandemic, they will have had plenty of sleep in their Sleep Number bed.
That slogan, “It’s your competitive edge” made perfect sense. In a world of competition in sports (including fishing), speech and debate events, beauty pageants, award and game shows, and simply family game fun nights, it seems our world is all about having a competitive edge. Well, it once was before COVID-19.
Really for those of us in the family of God, there should never be competition among us – at least in the way of sibling rivalry. Oh, yes, I know that many families, including mine, take competition seriously – especially in board or card games. Like in fishing, some of us are more laid-back with the que-se-ra, se-ra mindset while others are in-it to win-it every time.
But when I think about “competitive edge, I think of one thing and that is the competitive edge that we should always have toward the enemy of our souls — especially if we will use our God-given skills, talents and abilities. John 10:10 says “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life and more abundant life.” I’m thinking, of course our competitive edge is far superior to the enemy – we just need to always be ready with our game face on and our spirit muscled up with the truth of God’s Word that will defeat the enemy every time. It’s time to realize who our real competition is with – certainly not each other. When we show up as a united offensive front, then we’ll win every time. There’s really just no competition because if we’ve read the end of the book, we win!
Time to get the winning, competitive-edge mentality and realize “If God be for us, who in the world can be against us?” Romans 8:31