As an American living in Canada for the last year, it’s been an adventure learning what life is like north of the 49th. I’m pretty sure that for the first two weeks of intensive cultural immersion, I consumed at least one double-double from Timmy’s every day (for you unconverted, here’s your explanation). After the diabetes set in (not really), I gave up the double shot of sugar but never lost my love for this Canadian treasure.
I had heard of Tim Horton’s before moving to Canada, but one thing I hadn’t experienced yet was what one of my friends dubbed his “favorite season of the year.” Better than summer, better than Christmas is Roll Up the Rim to Win season.
Like McDonalds with its version of Monopoly, every year Tim Horton’s holds a sweepstakes where you can roll up the rim of your disposable coffee cup to win prizes. People flock to Timmy’s. The promotion is wildly successful.
I was recently studying the Third Commandment in preparation for a sermon I was writing, when one phrase I had heard many times before, and had long ago committed to memory, jumped out at me in a new way:
We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it.
How many things in this life do you regard as holy? How many things would you consider sacrosanct, inviolable, truly hallowed, consecrated, set apart-and-above everything else?
I think of parents who set aside family meal times and will not sacrifice that time together for anything, and it’s admirable. I think of my friend who has been going on a date with her husband every Friday night of their entire marriage, and I wish I had that kind of conviction. I think of my college classmates who would skip school to watch baseball games on TV (even though there are 2,000+ games in a year; don’t get me started on baseball…), and while I disagree with their priorities, I respect their commitment and passion.
Do you have that kind of regard for God’s Word? Do you approach your daily devotion with the same enthusiasm as you would searching for a prize during Roll Up the Rim to Win? I wish I did.
God’s Word is holy, no matter what I do with it, but if I regarded it as holy, I would treat it very differently. It wouldn’t be a textbook to find the answer for doctrinal questions that come up. It wouldn’t be on par with the USA Today Crossword puzzle as just one more morning habit. I would flock to it every chance I got. I would cherish and treasure and eat it up. I would sacrifice whatever else I had on the schedule to be with it.
As much as these four words prick my conscience, they also inspire my awe, because that’s what God did and does for you.
God regards you as holy.
To be fair, you are not holy. Neither am I. We are sinful, and our attitudes toward God’s Word prove it. But that’s not how God sees us. He has set us apart-and-above everything else. He has made sacrifices to be with us and the Sacrifice so that we can be with him. He showers us with his attention all the time and invites us to include him in our lives every moment of every day.
God cherishes and treasures you. He gave his Son for you. He wrote a love letter to you that spans 66 books and 1,500 years, so that no matter what season it is, you can always know how much he cares.
Next time you go get a cup of coffee or pick up a game piece at your favorite fast food joint, let yourself go; get into it; get excited about whatever potential prize might be hiding under the sticker or under the rim.
Next time you pick up the Good Book, see if you can’t channel that same kind of enthusiasm for the prize you know is waiting for you under the cover: God regards you as holy. You are his prize and he will be yours forever. Regard his Word as holy and gladly hear and learn it.