By Mallory Mattingly
Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter recently spoke to a group of college athletes about just how much we need Christ.
“Hunger and thirst signal a need that must be met. Just as we can’t live without food and water, we can’t survive without the Bread of Life and the Living Water,” Carter began to write in a post on social media following the event. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”
He grew up in the church and believed his parents’ faith “was good enough for me to get into heaven,” meaning he didn’t dig into a personal relationship with God.
“I filled myself with the things of this world. Success in school and football gave me a false sense of security, convincing me that I didn’t need God. My success meant we were good… right?” he wrote.
Related: Falcons’ Nathan Carter Invites Fans to ‘Come and See’ the Goodness of Jesus
“I carried that mindset into college, only to be humbled. I wasn’t seeking God. I was a hypocrite,” Carter admitted. “I claimed to be a Christian to look clean on the outside, but on the inside, my heart was filthy. I was empty. Turning to partying, sexual sin, and video games to give me quick hits of fulfillment, only to be empty again.”
“Deep down, I knew I was far from God and not living the faith I claimed,” he reflected. “But how could I go to Him when He saw everything I was doing? How could I ask for forgiveness when I was abusing His grace? I assumed God was disgusted with me, so instead of drawing near, I drifted further away.”
He struggled with feelings of shame until a phone call with his dad.
“But one day, a phone call with my dad changed everything. After I confessed all that I had done, he simply said, ‘Son, I love you,'” Carter remembered. “Nothing will ever compare to hearing those words. That my father loves me! Despite what I did, despite my sin, I am still loved.”
“That moment changed my life,” he emphasized. “Because if my earthly father loves me like that, how much more does my heavenly Father love me? Jesus lived the life you couldn’t live and died the death you deserved, because HE LOVES YOU. And He invites us to come to Him, to seek Him, and to experience a flourishing relationship with Him, not just in eternity, but here on earth. So if the fountains and food of this world keep leaving you hungrier and thirstier, I invite you to come, taste, and see that Jesus is good. When you do, ‘…you will delight in the riches of fare.'”
Carter finished his post with Isaiah 55:1–2, which reads, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”
Whether or not you’re a college athlete, let Carter’s message remind you to turn to Christ in moments of need, even when your sins are weighing you down.
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