Reflection for July 2026
Holidays
The end of the school year approaches, along with the main holiday season for those with children. A holiday season to be avoided if you don’t like crowds and paying top whack! What sort of holiday do you like? Seaside? Countryside and rolling hills? Or mountains and lakes/lochs? Stay in the UK, or travel abroad to Europe and beyond? Going abroad has always been popular with a greater guarantee of good weather, and if it’s your only holiday, you don’t want it spoilt by the vagaries of the British weather - even with the effects of global warming! Or are you unable to take a holiday for a variety of reasons; if you are a farmer, for instance.
Actually, taking a break is quite important; something that we learn from God.
This is Genesis 2:2. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. There are many references in the Old Testament to rest.
Now if God needed a rest, what do you think that says to the rest of us? The importance of taking a break has been increasingly recognised; not taking sufficient breaks is a factor in many illnesses. What about Jesus? What can we learn from him? His time for ministry was quite limited; he knew what was in front of him, so he would be ministering 24/7 surely? And at first glance, you might think he was doing just that. A careful reading of the Gospels reveals something different. This is especially well brought out in The Chosen, the film series we followed for quite a few months in church on ‘Film Night’. First thing to realise is that Jesus spent quite a time walking between villages and different areas. Second, Jesus often withdrew to solitary places.
For instance, in Matthew 14:23, after the famous miracle of the feeding of the 5000, we read that Jesus went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Jesus needed to pray as much as to rest. His disciples had the reverse problem - they fell asleep rather than praying! As we see in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded by Matthew 26:36-46, immediately before Jesus was arrested. Resting and communing with God (praying) are really important.
John-Mark last Sunday continued to preach on the series we are currently following on Hebrews. The reading contained chapter 6:4-6, and I quote from my Study Bible: ‘The most common interpretations of this difficult passage are…’ and goes on to list 3 possible interpretations. The writer of the book is encouraging his readers to grow in the faith and we were encouraged to not take a rest from praying, or reading scripture, lest we fall away. And what better time to read and pray but when we are on holiday!
Paul Selby