Tebow Mania (Good Company)Do you remember Tebow Mania? A few years ago, the sports world focused most of its attention on the football career of Tim Tebow.
When he played at the University of Florida, he was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He became famous for wearing Bible verses in white lettering on eye black as a testament to his faith. During the 2009 BCS Championship Game, he sported "John 3:16" on his face. That verse became the highest-ranked search term on Google for the next twenty-four hours—an incredible 94 million hits.
The Denver Broncos later chose him in the 2010 NFL draft. In 2011, after the first five games of the season where Denver posted a beautiful 1-4 record, Tebow was promoted to the starting quarterback position. He led the Broncos the rest of the way, winning seven games and losing only four. The Broncos 8-8 record put Denver in the wildcard game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the January 8th playoff game, Tebow completed 10 of 21 passes for a career-topping 316 yards and two touchdowns.
The Broncos won in overtime, 29–23.
After the game, reporters noted a string of coincidences in that game. Tebow's passing yards (316), his yards per completion (31.6), and the peak Nielsen rating for the game were 31.6. All of those stats pointed to Tim's favorite verse in the Bible, John 3:16. The next day, the top search term on Google was once again, "John 3:16." Isn't that cool?
Tim Tebow has always been bold about his relationship with Jesus Christ, finding ways to publicly express his faith. His outspokenness has also created its own share of controversy. In 2010, the NCAA began enforcing a new rule for college football players that the media declared "The Tebow Rule." The rule stated that no messages of any kind could be etched into the eye black–a black grease that athletes wear to reduce sun and light glare. I wonder why they made that rule. Could it be that they didn't like the verses Tebow referenced in his eye black?Taking a stand for Christ will sometimes cause you to become very unpopular with the people around you. Tebow has received a great deal of criticism and has been the object of ridicule and mocking by many people in the media.
Jesus never said that living for Him would be easy, but it would be worth it. There will be times that you will be laughed at or made fun of because of your relationship with God. Hold your head up high and realize that puts you in some pretty good company.
That's why you need friends in your life like Jesus. Friends that will push you to live for Him, hold you accountable to live like a Christian, and stand up with you.
Think about the story of three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They weren't just laughed at and made fun of; because they took a stand for God, they were thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. He wanted them to bow down, worship, and pray to a statue made in his own image. And they wouldn't. The king gave them one last chance. Standing together, they told him: "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)
I think all of us want friends like that standing next to us in our toughest moments. That stick with us no matter what. These guys encouraged each other to stay strong and hold onto God even if it was the last they do. And for these three, it might have been. Except that when the king throws them into the fire, they're protected. There was another in the fire walking around the furnace with them! A lot of people smarter than me believe it was Jesus.
Do you stick close with friends in hard times? Do you influence your friends to hold onto God no matter what? Are you a friend like Jesus?
1. Look up 2 Timothy 3:12. Why do you think the Bible says this?
2. Do you think it is possible to live a godly life and not be persecuted? I'm thinking no. If we are really taking a stand for Jesus and doing what He wants us to do and speaking up for His truth, there will probably always be someone out there that wants to put us down.
3. What should we do when we are being put down for our faith? Look up Romans 12:14-19. Write three things below that we should do.
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