One of the biggest days in college football recruiting history happened in December 2021. Travis Hunter was the number one recruit in the nation. He had committed to Florida State University, one of the most powerful football programs in the country. However, during the early signing period, Hunter did the unexpected. He committed to sign with Jackson State University, over and against FSU! Check out the video here.
This is the highest-ranked prospect ever to commit to an HBCU in recent memory. Coach Prime and the Jackson State football team have something special going on, and it is causing highly ranked players to choose HBCUs, which are smaller and lower ranked programs. Check out an interview with Coach Prime here.
Hunter picked had a new hope, a new coach, a new team, and a new journey during a public signing ceremony.
You Are a Recruit
Hunter had a decision to make that would totally transform his football career for the better. You also have a decision to make that will transform your life for the better. Jesus is recruiting you to be on his team. Will you sign to be a part of team Jesus? In other words, will you become a Christian?
Let’s walk through the different pieces of becoming a Christian.
Choose a New Hope
Like Hunter, you have to believe. Hunter believed in all that Jackson State, Coach Prime, and the team offered him. This belief required him to abandon FSU’s team.
To be a Jesus-follower, you have to believe. You must believe in Jesus and all of his promises. You must acknowledge that Jesus has the paths of joy and life, the true key to being fully human. Also, you must abandon all other paths. You must believe that these other paths are against God, and you must acknowledge that they destroy you and destroy others.
As you can tell, belief or faith isn’t just something we do with our minds. It requires us to trust God with everything.
Paul talks about how he abandoned his previous lifestyle to trust in Jesus:
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.
(Philippians 3:7–9 NLT)
As a Christian, you believe in Jesus.
Choose the Greatest to Ever Do It
Like Hunter, you have new leadership when you sign to team Jesus. When Hunter committed to Jackson State, he did so because he wanted to learn from Coach Prime and play under one of the greatest ever to do it. He wanted to become like Coach Prime.
To be a Jesus-follower, you must submit yourself to Jesus’ leadership and authority. As both God and human, Jesus is the greatest human who ever lived. In fact, he was perfect. Under his leadership, he transforms us to be like him. He is the only one who can change you. He is the right coach.
Some of us might be think that it is too hard to follow Jesus. However, submitting your life to Jesus isn’t crushing; it is freeing. He frees you from other paths that give you nothing, and he gives you everything in return. Check out this beautiful invitation from Jesus:
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matt 11:28–30 NLT)
A yoke was something that an animal wore in order to be directed by another. As a Christian, you give your life to Jesus’ direction.
Choose a Powerful Team
Like Hunter, you have a team family when you sign to team Jesus. Football is a team sport. It is impossible to be a successful player by yourself. Hunter needs his teammates in so many ways. These teammates will motivate him, laugh with him, win with him, lose with him, overcome injuries with him, forgive him, be forgiven by him, travel with him, and the list goes on.
You must commit to a team in order to actually enjoy it. A sports team only becomes a family when you fully and formally commit yourself to it. Otherwise, you will be on the outside looking in.
Being a Jesus-follower is a team sport. It is impossible to follow Jesus successfully by yourself. Jesus’ team is called “the church.” You can read more about that here and here. You need your Christian teammates in so many ways. Also, you must commit your life to them because you will not enjoy them otherwise. Committing your life in this way looks like being an active member of a local church.
Check out how Paul describes what it means to be united as a Christian family:
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
(Ephesians 4:3–6 NLT)
As a Christian, you embrace your new family.
Choose to Make It Official
Like Hunter, you have a ceremony. Hunter had a public hat selection ceremony where he verbally professed his intentions to play at Jackson State. Alongside this, he signed a National Letter of Intent, which officially commits that player to a school. These things are a part of the official beginning of a new athletic journey.
Jesus-followers also have a ceremony that officially initiates them onto the team. This is called “baptism.” Though you have already decided to follow Jesus and the decision to belong to his family, you must make it official. Baptism is how you “sign” the new covenant with Jesus (Luke 22:20). Jesus commands his followers to be baptized.
Check out Acts 2:37-38 below. A group of folks are basically asking what they must do to get right with God. Peter, among other things, tells them to be baptized:
Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
(Acts 2:37–38 NLT)
As a Christian, you join the team by being baptized.
Choose a Better Path
Like Hunter, you have a new path when you sign to team Jesus. An athlete must adopt the training program and lifestyle of their new team. Hunter has to learn the plays, the techniques, and the unique strategies of the new team.
Being a Jesus-follower means adopting a new lifestyle. The Bible calls this “repentance.” To repent means to change your ways for the better. Jesus gives you commands, and you must obey them. Why? If you obey them, you will actually thrive and flourish! Sin is disobeying his commands. Sin is bad for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that it hurts you and others.
Hear these words that Paul said to Christians in Rome:
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
(Rom 6:16–18 NLT)
But what if you fail? What if you sin? Jesus’ grace covers all of your sins. The Bible tells us, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:8–9 NLT-SE). Knowing that God is merciful is essential to following Jesus.
As a Christian, you commit to following Jesus’ instructions.
The Best Decision Ever
Today is signing day. Just like Hunter, your decision might not make sense to everyone, but it is the best decision you will ever make. Will you commit your life to following Jesus?