A Jolly Holiday

The fireworks have gone boom, the charcoal has cooled, and the last holiday of high summer has passed. I'm not sure who is in charge of adding holidays to the calendar, but we need one more sometime in August. It's a long, hot march from Independence Day to Labor Day. We could use an official breather, if for no other reason than some of us -- I'm looking at you, man in the mirror -- have a hard time taking a day off on our own.

If you're like me in this regard, you should understand that we are finite beings. We can't do everything. We can't be everywhere. And we can't add hours to the day just because there are things that need doing. There will always be things to do tomorrow, if tomorrow comes; work will never stop piling up. In the midst of the onslaught, however, we need to take a step back, let the inbox fill up, and grab some time off. We need to take a holiday.

God Himself gave us that pattern as early as the second chapter of the Bible. The thirty-third verse of Scripture is God's "day off," the rest from His work of creation. A day of rest was later commanded at Sinai. Festivals were instituted. Jesus taught the Sabbath rest was something made for us as a good gift from God. The Father knew He hadn't created machines which could toil indefinitely without a need for rest; He had made men and women who would, at least once a week, need some downtime.

The calendar may be free of holidays for a couple of months, but take a day anyway. And thank God for the blessing of rest.