How do Christians take vacation? On the brink of another Colorado summer, beckoning us with opportunities for camping, boating, hiking, traveling, sightseeing, and all other sorts of recreation, we might be wise to ask: is there a distinctly Christian approach to leisure?
There is, and it begins where the Bible begins: at Creation. For six days, God worked to bring order and fullness to His world. But once His work was completed, Genesis 2:2 tells us He “rested on the seventh day.” He wasn’t weary; the word “rested” literally means “He ceased.”
And then He does something fascinating in verse 3: “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” To “make holy” means God set this day apart as different from the other six. Holy things are unique things, things in a category by themselves. A holy day is a day unlike all the others. Days One through Six resemble each other. Each one finds God at work, creating with His voice and naming His creations. Each one ends with the formula “and there was evening and there was morning, the -th day.” But the seventh day is different. It’s unique. No creating. No naming. No “evening and morning” formula. Day Seven is holy. Instead of working, God rests. He contemplates and celebrates what He has made.
God’s rest thus affirms leisure and sanctions it for us as well. The Ten Commandments reinforce the lesson, explicitly stating that God intends this rhythm between work and leisure to be a binding pattern for our lives (Ex 20:8-11). Leisure sets a boundary to our acquisition and creative endeavor, and it allows us the space to enjoy what we have made or acquired in our work. On Day Six of the Creation week, God ordained that human beings subdue the earth and have dominion over it, and so we work hard. But on Day Seven, He ordained that we cease from subduing and simply rest. Industriousness is a virtue, but unlike some other virtues like honesty or love, it must be kept in balance. In other words, though we are commanded to work and work hard, it is actually possible to sin by working too much.
So, friends, enjoy your summer! Take a break. Rest. And celebrate God and what He has done through you in your work.