Summertime... and the livin' is easy
Should it be?
Ah, summer. A season perhaps especially precious to kids, having traded classrooms, homework and school buses for swimming, popsicles and summer vacations. That’s the case even where I am, here in Texas, although summer is relentlessly hot:
Californian:
I’m thinking of visiting Texas this summer. What’s it like?
Texan:
Have you ever been cremated?
Haha. Well anyway, it’s summer. And even in Texas, that evokes thoughts of more leisurely days, with maybe a hammock and some ice cold lemonade thrown in.
But is that kind of “taking it easy” what we should be doing?
Well, yeah.
We should be taking it easy, at one time or another. Maybe you aren’t on a “school year” schedule, and prefer to slow down and take a breather, or even a vacation, in winter. After all, that’s when the bears hibernate, and so it seems like as good a time as any to pump the brakes a bit.
But summer is logistically a good time for a lot of us to slow down. It’s often a great time to get out in nature. And it’s definitely vacation season.
So what does the Bible have to say about all that?
Rest and relaxation? It’s in the Bible
Jesus’ disciples had been busy. He’d sent them out in pairs to preach that people should repent, and He’d equipped them with power to work miracles as He Himself had done, healing the sick and casting out demons. They were tired and spent. It is in that context that He said this:
“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. – Mark 6:31-32
Of course the entire concept of a day of rest came from God Himself, in the form of the commandment to the Israelites to keep the Sabbath. Because Jesus in effect became our Sabbath – we enter into His rest when we enter into His family at salvation – we are not required to keep the Sabbath, as Paul explained several times in the New Testament (a good concise explanation can be found here).
So we are not required to keep the Sabbath (which is Saturday). However, a day of rest in which we focus more on God and less on our work is a godly principle indeed, and one which many Christians try to follow on Sunday, the Lord’s day, when we gather together for worship.
But the Bible also details a principle recognizing a need for longer periods of rest or renewal. In Leviticus 25, God gave the Israelites instructions for a sabbatical year for their land, to give it a rest from growing crops. We now know this is agriculturally beneficial for soil, but it also gave the farmer a rest and time to focus on other activities.
Rest and renewal are both part of God’s plan for us today, and He means for us to enjoy that time, too, as King Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote:
Here is what I have seen to be good, which is beautiful: to eat, to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. – Ecclesiastes 5:18
Go then, eat your bread in gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. See life with the woman whom you love all the days of your vain life, which He has given to you under the sun—all the days of your vanity; for this is your portion in life and in your labor in which you have labored under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:7-9
And of course, as the Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Which brings us to our next point.
Summer isn’t an excuse to ignore God…
Unfortunately, a lot of churches set the tone for this. A pet peeve of mine is that often, Bible studies take the summer off. Some churches cancel regularly scheduled midweek services or Bible study activities in favor of a “summer of fun” approach where each week brings a new activity – picnics, concerts, barbecues, baseball games, etc.
These kinds of activities are often trumpeted as “outreach.” But they fail at that for a number of reasons, the primary one being that church members don’t really see it that way. They think – and they’re right – that the summer carnival is for them. Oh, they may invite their neighbor if it’s something really fun, but that neighbor will just get a false idea of what happens at church. (“Yeah, we don’t usually have a dunk tank and cotton candy…”)
All this summer activity is not restful for the church staff and volunteers tasked with pulling it off, either. Quite the contrary. So we’re asking more from people, but feeding them less.
To be clear, I’m not opposed to a church giving particular ministries or regular activities a few weeks off, or having an occasional “just for fun” event. But not every week; three months is too long to go without meaningful spiritual content, and for many of us that means more than just a Sunday sermon (which itself may be scaled back some in the summer).
Churches often note that giving slows down in the summer. I wonder if it would be more consistent if the teaching remained robust! Either way, don’t let your giving take the summer off – nothing biblical about that.
If your church is leaving you a bit high and dry this summer – you still need to find a fountain. Pick a book of the Bible and read/study it all summer long. Or grab a study or devotional designed for summer. I’m working my way through this one, a “summer soak” in the attributes of God, which is always a great topic!
The “service vacation”
On the positive side, a lot of churches do offer a unique summer experience that you should definitely consider for your family, and that is the summer short-term mission trip.
Some people call these “service vacations” but I don’t think that’s the best way to think of them, as that seems to emphasize that it’s mostly a vacation, with some good deeds thrown in. Instead I think this should be approached as a mission just as important as any long-term missionary’s work. (Although there’s nothing wrong with tacking on a few days for vacation experiences, depending on the location.)
If your church offers a summer short-term mission trip and your children are old enough, consider going as a family. It is literally a life-changing experience to have one’s eyes opened to other people’s lives and culture, and you will have the opportunity to serve and make friends with people you’d never encounter otherwise. Your perspective – and your children’s – will be broadened and deepened by this in a way that no regular vacation can provide, and the memories and bonding you experience with your family and your fellow “missionaries” are precious.
As for summer vacations in general… highly recommend. That’s next week’s post!