3-1-2023
Not The Final Chapter
In February 2013 NFL wide receiver Cris Carter was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — an honor well deserved. He had a great career.
Yay Cris, right? Yes, but after his first few seasons in Philadelphia no one would have guessed it. Why? Certainly Carter was a talented athlete, but his early career suffered because of off- the-field issues, mainly related to drug abuse.
He was cut by the Eagles, and then picked up by the Vikings. It was early in his career with the Vikings that Cris got serious about following Christ. And while he was in Minnesota, he made the most of his second chance. He worked hard and began the process of turning things around personally and professionally.
The difference was like night and day. Cris went on to play in eight consecutive Pro-Bowls. He broke several receiving records and became one of only a handful of receivers with more than one thousand career receptions. A few days before his induction into the Hall of Fame, Cris was being interviewed and he had this to say:
“I wish I had done everything right. I have regrets. And when you’ve got a dark chapter in your life, people will try to make that the final chapter in your life. But it doesn’t have to be. For me, when it got the darkest, I said ‘this is not going to be the end of my book.’ I was able to start making decisions and start doing the right things, and one thing happened after another…”
Some days it may appear that you’re at the end of your book, as if the way things are today is the way things will always be.
Don’t believe it. There are chapters in your life yet to be written.
Even today you can begin making decisions to change the outcome of your story. The Old Testament prophet reminds us of this:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
Wherever you are in life……a high point or a low point……..wherever you are in life, it is not the final chapter. So go out there and keep working hard because God isn’t finished with you. And if you’re at a low point, there’s time to turn things around. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Instead, focus on what lies ahead and follow God’s plan. Who knows? There may even be a Hall of Fame in your future.