"It ain’t over…"

Brett Favre has surged once again into further athletic immortality by leading his newly adopted Minnesota Vikings to victory over his former Green Bay Packer teammates and giving them a 4–0 record. The ratings stats indicate the marvel of the moment with a record 22 million viewers following his flawless quarterbacking making it the most watched cable television program ever.

Favre retired from the Packers but then went on to the New York Jets where he finished poorly with an ailing right arm. When he joined the Vikings, sports fans held their breath. Could this aging veteran throw for Viking victory? Monday night silenced any critics and boosted Favre’s football stock right off the charts.

Brett Favre’s mere gridiron victory is not the most stunning breakthrough of his long and fabulous career. Favre turns 40 on October 7. That’s not extremely old by today’s general longevity, but it’s ancient by football reckoning. The knees tend to give out, one’s whole frame gets shaky after all those hits, and a questionable arm is no asset either. But Dr. Anthony Romeo, a surgeon at Rush University, said, "Brett Favre’s probably going to get stronger and stronger as the season goes on. The chances for this deteriorating are far less."

Perhaps Favre’s football passion is fueled by a desire to disprove the cynics or at least powered by his indomitable spirit and stunning athleticism. But one thing is certain—he is an inspiration to all aging people who refuse to pack it in because of advancing years.

God’s people have a higher calling of Christian testimony and service than mere personal satisfaction or fame. They serve in the tradition of renewed spiritual energy drawn from the Lord’s inexhaustible supply.

Isaiah 40:28-31 says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

The Psalmist wanted to hang in there until he had impacted the generations to come. "Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come." (Psalm 71:18)

I once heard a speaker say, "I’ve heard so many talking about ‘burn out.’ The issue is not burn out but burn up." He meant that our life force for Christ needs to be productively harnessed for as long as God’s timing dictates. And I’ve heard it said, "When it comes time to die, be sure the only thing you have left to do is die."

Way back in Old Testament times, after calling fire down from Heaven and then running about twelve miles ahead of King Ahab’s chariot, an exhausted Elijah fled wicked Jezebel’s threat. One hundred and twenty miles to the south, he excused his failures by suggesting he was the only faithful one left in all the country, and he wanted to die. God’s answer was that he should stop complaining, get up and go, and anoint two kings and a successor. Read the whole amazing story in I Kings 19.

Years ago, John Philip Sousa, the incredible bandmaster and author of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," was asked when he’d retire. "The day you hear of my death will be the day you hear of my retirement." Both happened when he had a heart attack in the early morning hours of March 6, 1932 after a rehearsal with a local band of "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

Baseball legend Yogi Berra lives in Montclair, NJ, which is just a few miles from our Towaco headquarters. He has been honored in a museum on the campus of Montclair State University, which gave him an honorary degree despite his awkward and even weird grammar. One of those statements is probably Berra’s most significant: "It ain’t over ‘til it’s over."
Nor should it ever be!

Dave Virkler