January 9, AD2012

By now, the whole world has watched sports highlights of Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in their stunning first play in overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Doing so, Tebow silenced those who have been saying he can’t pass! Look at his stats: 316 yards in the air, with an average of 31.6 yards per pass. And that's not all. The game earned a TV audience rating of, yes, 31.6!

Great stats! But that’s not the reason why they have been given so much air time, ink, and tweets. It’s because those stats have the uncanny numbers of Tebow’s favorite Bible verse, John 3:16--a verse he painted on his eye black when he played football in college.

You probably have John 3:16 memorized, but if not, here it is: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Of course, Tebow’s stats made no mention of the Gospel of John. Actually, there are a number of 3:16’s in the Bible, and I thought you might be interested in reading some.

Now, I hope God loves football (forgive me Lord if you don’t), because I want to start off with what could be seen as some “football 3:16’s” in the Bible.

Some Broncos fans wondered if Tebow might get benched for the game because he had lost three previous games. How would Elway have told him? Uh, let’s see. There’s a 3:16 in the back of the Bible that would convey the message: “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16). Elway could have said that, but I doubt that a man of his character would have misapplied Scripture that way.

Happily, Elway started Tebow. Told him to “pull the trigger”--be yourself; be Tim Tebow!

It probably wasn’t on Tebow’s mind during the game, and I’m sure it wasn’t a prophesy against the Steelers when they faced the Broncos; even so, I just couldn’t pass on citing this 3:16: “destruction and misery are in their paths” (Romans 3:16).

Whoa! I just came under conviction to dispense with the satire. Okay, okay.

Did you know there are two John 3:16’s in the Bible? The one in the Gospel of John, of course, but also one in the Letter of First John: “We know love by this, that He [Jesus] laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

Now where do I go?

Let’s see...Tim...Tim... Timothy! Yep, there’s a 3:16 in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and it happens to be one of my favorites: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

After doing a little more digging, I ran across a 3:16 for Christians who treat their bodies with disrespect by not taking good care of them, or doing things with their bodies that they shouldn’t do: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Now, here’s a “Tebowing” 3:16 that applies to every Christian, no matter the nature of his or her endeavor (yes, even if it's football!): “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16--bold, in context of verses 14-19).

Tim Tebow has certainly had his critics and scoffers. Well, here’s a 3:16 for Tebow to keep in his heart when he is mocked because he is a Christian: “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:16, in context of verses 14-16).

Let's not forget that Tebow averaged 31.6 yards per pass. So, how about a couple of 31:6’s from the Bible:

This one is for any backslider who might be reading this article: “Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected” (Isaiah 31:6a).

I must apologize again, but you see there’s a 31:6 that can be directly applied to football (actually, to any difficult challenge we might face): “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Finally, there is even a 3:16 that serves well as a benediction for this article: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
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More on Tim Tebow:

My GOP Dream Team
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. (New American Standard Version of the Bible) unless otherwise indicated. For more information, please see Legal and Acknowledgments.
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