By Michaela Gordoni
Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter recently shared why believers should attend church with spiritual intention and carry God’s presence with them always.
“Have we lost our sense of awe and reverence for God?” he wrote alongside a photo with his team in the locker room. “For many of us, church feels just like another routine, and our ‘quiet time’ is anything but quiet. We clutter our minds with so much noise, and it’s no wonder that we struggle to hear from God or feel His presence.”
“We forget one of the most beautiful things about our faith: that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives within us! So the distance we feel comes from our hearts drifting away, not from God withdrawing. It is our distractions that prevent us from fully receiving Him,” the 23-year-old wrote.
He believes Christians would live life differently if they went to church with the belief that they’d encounter God.
Related: Falcons’ Nathan Carter Invites Fans to ‘Come and See’ the Goodness of Jesus
“What would it look like if we invited God into every aspect of our day, as if He were walking beside us? What if we approached our Scripture reading and prayer with the conviction that the Creator of the universe genuinely desires to speak to us?” he asked. “God does speak.”
“We often expect dramatic signs from Him, but more often He speaks in stillness, in moments when even a whisper becomes loud because our focus is entirely on Him. God is not silent; our lives are just too noisy to hear Him,” Carter explained. “If we truly grasped that God’s presence is with us at all times, how would it change the way we live?”
We would treat others better, be more diligent at work and honor God more.
“Because of Jesus, we no longer need a priest or a veil to shield us from entering God’s presence. When He tore the veil on the cross, it signified that His sacrifice fully atoned for our sins, making access to God’s presence open to all through Jesus, our High Priest and Mediator. God is so worthy, so holy, so magnificent that our very breath should be an authentic act of worship toward Him.”
“We no longer have to worship Him in man-made temples; we can worship Him with our lives as a living sacrifice because we are the temples that He chooses to reside in. We can seek, abide, and encounter Him at any moment,” he said. “The living God is always with you; let your life show that you believe it.”
Carter is making the utmost of his fame and platform to share the Gospel and spiritual insight. He says his goal is to “promote the name of Jesus.”
In early March, Carter revealed that he struggled with his faith in the first year of college. He thought his knowledge about God was sufficient enough to have a relationship with Him. The misconceptions he had left him feeling distant and without forgiveness.
“A phone call from my father began to break down my walls as he showed me unconditional love and reminded me of my true identity. All accusations faded, and I finally felt free,” the athlete explained.
This young man has a lot of wisdom in his young age, and it’s wonderful that he’s using his platform to share it. Lord knows most of could use some more spiritual understanding.
Read Next: Michigan State RB Nathan Carter Wants People to ‘Know About Jesus’
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