Here I am surrounded by groups of people excited by the prospect of travelling to far-flung places, waiting expectedly to fly off to exotic places, anticipating seeing loved ones or imagining how they will, in just a few short hours, be relaxing at the side of a pool or walking on a beach next to an azure sea. Regrettably, I won’t be joining them. As I sit in a hotel at Heathrow, I am here for work and won’t be boarding any planes, but it has started me thinking about holidays.
The first book of the Bible, Genesis, starts with the Creation story. God spent the first six days creating day & night, separating land & sea, forming animals & plants, and breathing life into humans. On the seventh day, He rested. Even given the enormity of creating the universe, I don’t for one-minute think that an all-powerful God was tired and needed a sit-down. Instead, I believe that God sets a precedent for each of us to set time aside to ‘take a break’, to have a Sabbath. In previous generations, this was a set day a week and there is something to be said about keeping a day set-aside for not working. But with the pressures of life in 2019, this is increasingly hard. That does not change our fundamental need to stop and rest.
Studies show that there are benefits to taking time out to rest, even just 24 hours. These range from reduced stress levels to increased immune responses. It is physically healthy to rest. People who take time out also tend to have better positive family relationships and even ‘enjoy’ work more; are more productive and have better short-term memory.
When God commanded us to take a rest, He did it in the full knowledge that as humans with free will, we are the only people who can grant ourselves a holiday. I don’t know what your plans are for the summer, but I do hope you give yourself a break. It doesn’t have to be a week on a far-flung beach; just some time doing something different or doing as little as possible whatever suits your personality. Taking time out alone or with family and friends to recharge physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually is both the focus of a holiday and of God’s command to rest on a Sabbath day. Holidays are less about where you go and more about giving yourself permission and time to take a break.
I pray that this summer you will grant yourself a rest, a holiday and that it will restore and refresh as God intended.
You may enjoy it enough that you make it a weekly event.