Book review: Tim Tebow, Through My Eyes

★★★★★

Well, it’s Sunday, and there’s no football. The Superbowl is over. Desperately clinging to another passion (NFL football) and hoping to excuse it as religious reading, I picked up Tim Tebow’s book. Tim, the latest God-fearing sports sensation.

Don’t let me fool you: This is a football book, not a book about religion. More than anything else, you’ll be reading about Tebow’s football experiences, including his remarkable college career. Tebow’s success in football boils down to one thing: an obsessive drive. He simply cannot slack off. “When we think we can do less than our best, when we think others are not watching, we’re cheating ourselves and the God who created us.” But it’s more than wanting to do right by God. Tebow just can’t accept losing. His mantra: “Somewhere he is out there, training while I am not. One day, when we meet, he will win.”

Here’s the deal: Much as I wince at athletes who praise God after every touchdown, I wound up really liking this Tebow fella! Yes, Tim feels the need to evangelize, given the special opportunity he has been given in life, but his religion is grounded. He may print Bible verses under his eyes when he plays, hoping for a camera close-up, but  he doesn’t consider himself God’s answer to the world. A couple typical Tebow quotes:

“I know it sounds dumb to be praying over a football game … I’m not sure God is into who wins or loses .. But since my parents raised me to pray about anything that’s on my heart, I pray—even if some of those things are trivial in the overall scheme of things.”

“People often seem to think that when you’re following the Lord and trying to do His will, your path will always be clear, the decisions smooth and easy, and life will be lived happily ever after and all that. Sometimes that may be true, but I’ve found that more often, it’s not. The muddled decisions still seem muddled, bad things still happen to believers, and great things can happen to nonbelievers.”

Yeah, the season is over, and Tim Tebow, the unlikely master of miraculous comebacks, couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat when it really mattered this year. His faith in God notwithstanding, we now head into the off-season wondering if he’ll even remain the Anointed One in Denver. Tebow never lost his trust in God, but has he lost the trust of his coaching staff?

As Tim says, “I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know who holds my future.”