Tebow Time

I read Tim Tebow’s Book, “Through My Eyes”.

Tim Tebow is a rookie quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He gained popularity in his college years playing football for Florida University for not only being a great quarterback, but for painting scripture verses such as John 3:16 under his eyes (it is reported that 92 million people did a google search on “John 3:16” during or shortly after one of his games). His college team won the national championship in 2006 and 2008. He won the prestigious Heisman trophy in 2007. Most recently, he has become a national phenomenon because he has led the Broncos to win several games that appeared to be unwinnable – all the while, giving glory to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

What Tim Tebow does on the field is amazing. But what he does off the field is intriguing. The conditioning he puts his body through is intense. If everyone else does 100 pushups, he’ll do 200. He’ll work out three times a day. He’ll lift weights until his arms tremble. He works hard and pushes himself by thinking somewhere out there, someone is working harder than him. Why does he push himself so hard? He does it out of his devotion to God. He does it because he wants God to be honored and glorified through his life. He does it because he believes God receives joy from watching His children use their gifts and skills to the best of their abilities. It is his way of investing his talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and maximizing them, rather than burying them and letting them waste away. It is his way of saying “Thank you God for what you have given me”.

He tells a story of rebuking a teammate for not giving his best when they were running the steps of the stadium during practice. His teammate justified his actions by saying he wanted to stay behind and encourage another teammate that was lagging behind. Tebow was livid and called it laziness, disguised as good intentions. He concluded, if you truly want to encourage your teammates, then give your teammates (and God) your best!

For all you sports fans, you would probably like for me to continue writing more about Tebow. For anyone who is not a sports fan, you probably stopped reading this article a couple of paragraphs ago. But the reason I’m writing about our Christian brother, Tebow, is to ask you – is his hard work, dedication and devotion to God, that has manifested itself in the NFL arena, a strange phenomenon? Or, is the fact that most Christian are not that dedicated and devoted to God with the talents He has given each one of us a strange phenomenon? Are we not all suppose to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our strength? (Mark 12:30) Isn’t Tim Tebow simply doing what we are all commanded to do?

What would it look like to truly give God our best? Let’s prepare ourselves for some intense spring training of our bodies, minds, and souls this year. God deserves it. The world needs it. And we will all be blessed by doing it.

Go bless,

Pete



“…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31