Another setback for Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is one of the best-known Christians in America. A Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion at the University of Florida, he quarterbacked the Denver Broncos to the second round of the NFL playoffs before stints with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots.

Next, he turned his attention to baseball, a game he hadn’t played since high school. He made his minor league’s all-star game this year; fans were hoping the New York Mets would call him up to the major leagues. Then he broke a bone in his right hand and is expected to have season-ending surgery today.

Tebow has used sports as a platform for his passionate Christian faith. In response, skeptics have relentlessly mocked his sexual integrity and commitment to prayer and Scripture. Despite such ridicule, Tebow’s integrity has consistently glorified God and advanced his kingdom.

There’s a lesson here for us: if we want to serve our Lord in a skeptical culture, our lives must match our message.

Broken sprinkler heads

I was walking in our neighborhood recently and paused on a footbridge that spans a small stream. It is one of my favorite places to visit each morning.

On this occasion, however, my eye was drawn to a white styrofoam cup floating on the water. My frustration at someone’s negligence became the focus of my thoughts rather than the beauty of God’s creation.

A little farther, I came across a broken sprinkler head spewing water into the air. Its owners clearly did not know that they were wasting water in this way.

Then I realized that, all too often, I have allowed the same in my soul. God wants to speak his truth through me, but I can allow bits of trash in my life to distract from his glory. I have “broken sprinkler heads” that others see but I do not.

The same may be true of you today.

This is not how our Father intends us to live. He wants us to “be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). In fact, he wants us to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29).

In…