I wrote this post month’s ago in South Africa. It is something God is still working on in me; so I want to share it with you even if it is almost 4 months overdue.
Let me be very clear about something, I have never actually wanted to be Tim Tebow. I never wanted to be a man or an NFL quarterback or any of those things. But . . . I did want to be like Tim Tebow – maybe the female version of him. I’m not really certain how to explain what I wanted. I have always loved sports and was always gifted at them. I didn’t have the work ethic to be very good though. I wanted to play professional sports, but I’m not really certain which one.
When Tim Tebow’s name became well known what people always talked about was his faith in Jesus. Because Tebow was good at sports he had influence. I wanted to have influence, and after I accepted Christ I wanted to influence people toward Jesus. Tebow does that just by being who he is. I always thought it would be cool to be like that – to be able to have influence and to use it for good. But, God did not make me Tim Tebow, and He did not make me a professional athlete.
However, God did make me influential. This is something God has been teaching me over the last month. He has told me that my words and my actions carry weight with other people. Not with everyone, but definitely with some people. He has told me I need to use the influence He has given me to reach others for Jesus. This is certainly something I am not opposed to. God didn’t make me Tim Tebow, but He did make me influential.
My goal for this race is to learn how to use my influence to lead people to Jesus, to show them Jesus, and to show them how to be influential. God didn’t just make me influential. He didn’t just make Tebow influential, or Payton Manning, or fill in the blank with whomever you can think of influential. God made all Christians influential. God actually commands us to be influential. It is His very first command to us.
God commanded Adam and Eve, and everyone after them, to “be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen 1:28).
God told us to expand our population in order to fill the earth. He is told us to have influence over our environment. That is what He means by subdue – to control or to influence. God calls His people to influence and part of our environment are the people around us.
God has given each of us influence and He expects us to use it to bring glory to His name. We are all influential; therefore, we are either influencing people in the direction of God or in the direction of earthly things. It is our choice.
I am not Tim Tebow, and I cannot influence as many people as He can. I am not designed to influence those people. I am designed to have influence over others people because of who I am. You have influence over a different group of people than I do.
I am not Tim Tebow, You are not Tim Tebow. But we have influence. We just need to use it. It is a God given gift and a command to be obeyed.
What can you do today to use your influence to bring glory to God?
