Tebow giving God the glory! Photo courtesy of The Backyard

My husband loves football. As a native, my husband loves Gainesville, FL. My husband also loves Jesus. What do all three of these things have in common? Tim Tebow! And my husband loves Tim Tebow. For the people who don’t know who I’m talking about, Tebow is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, who played for the Florida Gators while in college. Football is huge in Gainesville, FL and while he played for the Gators at UF, Tebow’s popularity soared! I remember visiting friends and family during the football season and the whole city shut down because of the game. And adults, teens and children alike were adorned in Gators paraphernalia. It was crazy!

Well, Tebow now plays for the Denver Broncos and he’s getting a lot of attention. One of the reasons is Tim Tebow loves Jesus and he’s not afraid to show it. Tebow wears scriptures on his jersey, openly prays during the game and unabashedly thanks “his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” during post-show interviews. Now, many critics are saying enough is enough and that it’s overkill. They get it. Tebow loves Jesus. I even join them when I want to antagonize my husband and I say, “Jesus doesn’t care about a stupid football game!” He hates it when I say that. However, is Tebow’s “Jesus freak” behavior too much or is it just what the doctor or Jesus ordered?

Are You Lukewarm or On Fire?

You can’t deny that Tebow is on fire for God. He credits the Lord for his success and he’s not afraid to thank Him publicly. And that’s how we are all supposed to be—on fire for God. In Revelation 3, Jesus criticizes the Laodicean church because they were neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. In verse 16, Jesus says because they are lukewarm, he will spit them out of his mouth. Their lack of enthusiasm and nonchalance left a bad taste in his mouth.

I understand how someone like Tebow can be a turn off for those who don’t know Jesus. Before I was really saved, I used to cringe every time someone talked about Jesus. I’m sure my blog turns some people away because all I talk about is Jesus. However, what some people don’t realize is that Jesus transformed our lives. All of us were spiritually dead before we met Jesus. Some of us were even on the brink of physical death. Many of us had little or no hope for our future and none of us knew what our God-given purposes were until we met Jesus. And what makes many of us excited about Jesus is that we weren’t even looking for him. Jesus pursued us and changed our lives. I talk about it in my call story, but that is part of my testimony. I didn’t even believe in Jesus as a college student and yet, he still found favor with me and showed me that he loves me so much that he died for me. Everything I have today (my family, vocation, education, peace, joy, healing, financial resources, friends, hope) is because of Jesus. I’m sure that Tebow can attest to this, but the scripture is really true that in Him, we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

I still don’t think Jesus cares about a stupid football game, but I understand why Tebow loves the Lord. If you’re one of those people who just don’t quite understand what the fuss is all about, why not open your heart to Jesus and discover for yourself why we’re so excited about our Lord.