Real Purpose - Luke Zeller
Ever since I was young, I’ve been passionate about everything I have done. I poured all of my energy and focus into basketball, friends, and life. I became very good at almost everything I did, but I lacked real purpose.
Even though I grew up in a home with great parents who follow Christ, I thought God was just something that I could use when things were tough or when I needed some luck. I thought that being a follower of Christ simply involved going to church on Sunday. But then I met a group of guys while I was a freshman in high school and there was something different about them. They enjoyed life, I mean really enjoyed life. That’s when I realized that being a Christ-follower was about so much more. They helped me understand that following Christ was an every-day, every-moment-of-their-life thing. It was about commitment, and not halfway commitment.
The best example I have heard to explain commitment is the explorer Cortez. When he and his sailors came across the ocean for their conquest and landed, he wanted to make sure of his sailors’ commitment, so he burnt the ships. They had no choice but to stay. In my life, I knew that I had to burn my ships. I had to leave my past life and have full commitment in order to truly live a Christlike life. I had always done everything passionately with everything in me and now my choice to become a Christ-follower also had to be wholehearted.
My life still contains many challenges, but challenges are opportunities to overcome. Now that I have God on my side, these challenges do not go away, they do not become easier, life is still tough, but now I always have someone with me to help me through. God is my rock for life. Every time I go through something tough or something that seemingly would crush other people, I know that I will land on my feet because I have God to carry me through. I try to read the Bible every day to continue learning about God and the man He wants me to be. I pray often because it’s as easy as talking to my best friend. My life is fully changed and I know I am fully living because I am living for Jesus Christ.
— Luke Zeller, NBA player