(God said,) "If you turn back...from doing your pleasure on My holy day,...then you shall
take delight in the Lord, and I will make your ride upon the heights of the earth." Isaiah 58:13-14. While the summer is still not here according to the calendar, for many, it has already begun. The long weekend (notice that we do not call it Victoria Day) in May seems to be the unofficial start of summer. This year, the weekend was even fairly favorable weather wise, an improvement over other years. What do people do for holidays?
Perhaps, we should look at the words that are used. What is the difference between "holiday" and "vacation"? A number of years ago, most people described this time of year as "the holidays". But our society has become so intent on "politically correct", or, perhaps more accurately, with a "Don't bother me!" attitude. The word "Holidays" comes from the words "Holy Days", and refer to time set aside for worship and honor to God. The modern world seems to take less time for worship and praise of God, and thus had to find another word.
In order to avoid any thought of faith, the common word used today is "vacation". It is interesting that this word comes from the Latin root which means "to leave empty." Perhaps, this is thought to refer to the house, that it is left empty, but more often, might it not refer to the people. How many feel empty after a vacation, having left God in an empty church. On the other hand, with our technological advancements, many become overfilled. Cellular telephones, laptops, internet, texting, and many other parts of our lives infringe on our time of rest. It seems that every moment needs to be filled with recreation events so that we "live each day to the fullest.", and thus, people feel the need of a vacation from vacation time.
But another word for which the meaning has changed is the word "recreation". It means "to create again". How many feel "renewed" spiritually after their vacation? Sometimes it becomes more of a "tearing down" by a helter-skelter life rather than a re-creating of our bodies and beings by rest, prayer and worship. This summer, let us take time to worship and praise God for His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ as we re-create and renew our whole selves.
