Eric Reece
Tim Tebow is a devout Christian and great athlete.
As a college football player for the Florida Gators, he started writing Bible verses on his eye black (worn under the eyes to reduce glare).
For each college football game, he would select a Bible verse that was speaking to him and write it under his eyes. For the 2008 BCS championship game, he wore his favorite verse, John 3:16.
The amazing thing is John 3:16 had 93 million searches on Google around the time of the televised game.
This was a reminder to me that not everyone had the opportunity to memorize this verse in Sunday School. It was also a great way to evangelize, as the seeds of all those people reading the Gospel produced fruit. My belief is this changed lives as people searched, read and believed.
More and more people search the internet for spiritual help and Bible verses. Two popular Bible sites – YouVersion and Bible Gateway – keep a list of the most searched for Bible verses each year. According to YouVersion, the most searched, bookmarked and highlighted Bible verse – and the most read New Testament chapter in Bible Gateway in 2024 – was Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
What does this tell me? I discern people were concerned about many things in 2024, and sought to learn more about prayer as a source of strength and peace to help them through each day. The concerns may have been about finances, relationships, health, the present and the future. The search led them to the Bible verse, giving hope and confidence and a way to face the anxieties by seeking God in prayer.
The verse is mindful of bringing supplications and thanksgiving to God. Supplications are a crucial and humble request brought to God in prayer. Thanksgiving is a way to praise and give God gratitude for what God has done and is doing in your life.
The Rev. William Barclay reminds us, "When we pray, we must always remember three things. We must remember the love of God, which ever desires only what is best for us. We must remember the wisdom of God, which alone knows what is best for us. We must remember the power of God, which alone can bring to pass that which is best for us. He who prays with a perfect trust in the love, wisdom and power of God will find God's peace."
What will be the Bible verse for 2025? Philippians 4:6 will continue to be high on the list. Psalm 23 – always high in the search list – will be right up there. My hope is that a verse with joy will be searched, as people are filled with joy as they find hope and strength from God’s word.
A prayer for 2025: "Blessed are those, O Christ, in whose souls, you are constantly born, those in whose lives you are daily crucified and those in whose hearts you are risen forever" (Jerome, c. 342-420).
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.