Vacations

 February 24, 2024

Leviticus 23-25 outline the various feasts God commanded his people: Firstfruits, Weeks (Pentecost), Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Seventh year Sabbath, and the Feast of Jubilee. Most of these were week-long celebrations. The latter two involved giving the land an entire year of rest; no cultivating, planting, or pruning. 

Did Israel actually keep the year-long abstinence from agricultural pursuits? I don’t know, but I do know that God values our times of rest more than we do. If we took this many vacations, we would worry about our productivity, or whether people would think we are lazy, but I wonder if our incessant labor is indicative of our failure to really trust God, or of our desire to have more than God intends for us. What do we sacrifice of our relationship with God by our constant busyness?

These “vacations” weren’t merely times to get away from it all. They were given as opportunities for us to draw closer to God. Vacations that merely focus on what we want to do miss the point. Our focus should be on what God wants. If I am feeling agitated because I’m not getting anything done, it could be indication of how far I’ve drifted from God’s intention. If I’m not resting in Jesus, where am I resting? Do we use our “vacation” time to draw close to Jesus, or do we cram it so full of activity that we are more worn out when we return to work than when we left?