Mark 6:30-32 — And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

Hmmm … What to write today? Well, maybe it’s natural that as it’s the Labor Day weekend I feel guided to write about vacations.
What does the Bible say about vacations? Well not much of course! The whole thing’s a pretty new idea. But did you know that the Bible — or at least “that old-time religion” had quite an influence on the rise of the American vacation?
Until the middle of the nineteenth century vacations were for wealthy people, and seen as a chance to refresh the mind. In the late 19th century a variety of Vacation options emerged — especially as the arrival of the railroad made travel more feasible — and one of those options was the camp meetings, essentially a religious revival.
So vacations are pretty new …so it’s interesting to see Jesus encouraging the disciples to take a break! William Barclay does a great job of explains the reasoning:

We cannot work without rest; and we cannot live the Christian life unless we give ourselves time with God. It may well be that the whole trouble in our lives is that we give God no opportunity to speak to us,because we do not know how to be still and to listen; we give God no time to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength, because there is no time when we wait upon him. How can we bear life’s burdens if we have no contact with him who is the Lord of all good life? How can we do God’s work unless in God’s strength? And how can we receive that strength unless we seek in quietness and in loneliness the presence of God?

There is a tendency for many of us to be driven by a Protestant — even a Puritan — work ethic; six days labor, one day for worship. And any tendency to vacation is even being eroded by modern work practices. There’s a real danger that we will be so diligent that we’ll make ourselves miserable — and that’s not the Master’s plan.
Let’s not go overboard here — we’re not all meant to go off and be crazy for weeks at a time. What we need is a plan to keep ourselves spiritually refreshed. A good plan is a mixture … downtime every day, short breaks. The occasional longer break … Whatever works for you.
Take a vacation. It’s not a sin.