Boasting in Weakness: Vacation

THE FIRST PART OF WHAT FOLLOWS WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS AN ARTICLE FOR OUR CHURCH NEWSLETTER:

I have to be honest: as I sit writing this, I am thinking about my upcoming vacation! I’m ready to be at the beach breathing in the salt air, enjoying the breeze, and watching Emily play in the sand. The week before vacation is the hardest to concentrate, isn’t it? But we all need some kind of vacation, retreat, or break from the normal ebb and flow of life. Summer is often the time we do this because children are out of school, and it is easier to get away. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is vital to your ability to function in the role God has placed you in. How often do we see Jesus secluding himself from others in order to rest, pray, or sleep?

Perhaps the focus we need to keep in mind is the PURPOSE of these retreats. As much as I enjoy vacation, it cannot be what I live for. It is a temporary and fleeting time. If recreation becomes our sole focus, we find ourselves going through the motions week-to-week, simply to see our “fun-time” come and go much too quickly. This kind of living is dangerous. It leads to selfish outlooks that are only focused on how much pleasure we can obtain. Our jobs, school work, friendships, and even church involvement, soon become obligations that we have to wade through in order to reach the next trip to the beach, golf course, theme park, etc.

This is NOT the kind of life Jesus came to give us. Scripture tells us in John 10:10 that Jesus came to give us “life abundantly.” The thing is, this abundant life that Jesus gives may not look like the kind of abundant life we would give if it were up to us. For a teacher, it might be plodding away all year to inspire one student to rise up from the low standards set by his parents. For an office worker, it might simply mean sharing your coffee break for several months with someone that is going through family struggles. For a family, it might mean letting a child’s friend join you for a movie night when you don’t feel like having company, because they have nowhere else to be. None of these things are easy, but they characterize the kind of living that should naturally flow out of those who have received the abundant life Jesus makes available to his followers.

This “abundant-life-living” is also what makes us look forward to that long-awaited vacation. And we should take that vacation with joy and excitement. As long as we remember the big picture: we do not live for our vacation; we take our vacation to help us be better at living. At living our lives in service to Jesus.

Here's a brief glimpse of our time away: