If you have been reading the business news, you probably would know
that Ernst & Young had started to merge with Arthur Andersen
globally, and Malaysia is not spared from this global trend.
This is one of the reasons why I was rather busy for the past few weeks. One
of the major issues when 2 Firms/Companies merge is the issue of
adapting to a new culture. In other words, change is taking place
between the two firms.
Ask any businessman and he can tell you what change is all about or
ask any Management student, they probably could write a thesis on
change. Change...it seems that we have no control over change.
The world is constantly changing, people are constantly changing. Nothing
stays constant.
Throughout the whole process of having to go through this "change,"
it kind of brought me back to the time when I first decided to accept
Jesus into my life. Before I accepted Jesus into my life, I was
having a different kind of life-style and now that I've decided to
accept Jesus into my life, I no longer live according to my own will
but have to change into the likeness of Christ. Similarly in my example above, before the two firms combines, both have two
different "corporate cultures" but now, they are to be one firm with
the same vision and culture.
If the staff handbook is the bible of an employee, I can plainly say
that the bible is the handbook of a Christian. Once we've decided to
sign our letter of appointment, we are saying that we agree to abide
to the rules and regulations of that Company's handbook.
Likewise, once we've decided to accept Christ into our hearts, we are to
follow God's rules and regulations written in His Word.
One difference between a staff handbook and the bible is that the staff handbook is
constantly changing but the Word of God remains forever [Psalms
119:89].
Sinful habits are natural to the flesh, and it is not easy to change
old habits. They say old habits die-hard. The good news is that the
Word of God has the power to transform lives. The Word will show all
that is in our hearts. It reveals our thoughts, purposes and bad
principles we are holding on to (cf. Hebrews 4:12).
The bible says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
(2) Corinthians 5:17).
To the world, the word "change" means "to FOLLOW the trend."
To God, the word "change" means "to GO AGAINST the trend." One way to go
against the trends of the world is to read and meditate
on the Word of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and knock
on our conscience. That's where we're convicted of our sinful habits and the minute we
yield ourselves to God, He will work from within us and change us--from the inside out.
Change takes time. God is in the business of changing character everyday. Let us hold fast to the doctrines of our
Christian faith in our hearts. If we love a person, we would change
for his/her sake. This simple principle applies, if we love the Lord,
we would change for Him, and for Him alone.
And I was thinking to myself, since "change" is inevitable, why not
change for the better for God?
Grace and peace,
Elaine
