HOLIDAYS AND YOUR QUIET TIME

"If the goodman (master) of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken through" (Luke 12:39).

How leisure time is spent is a very important question since it greatly affects our character. It has been said that "Leisure hours are the hinge on which true education turns." It is true that developing a person's character is more important than training the mind and abilities. While a teacher can do much to stimulate and guide a student, every child has to work out his own character. It is in the leisure hours, when he is free from rules and observation, that a child shows what his true Character is. This is the reason leisure time is considered all-important and all-powerful, the hinge on which true education turns. This statement can also be applied to Christianity.

A Caution About Vacations

At Bible college or school, students will take time for their daily devotions as part of their regular routine. Their mind is geared for systematic work. They set aside time for devotions just as they do time for a class or private study.

When the time for vacation or a holiday comes and students are free to do exactly as they please. Many find that the morning watch and fellowship with God interfere with their holiday pleasure.

The holiday becomes the test of character, the proof of how one could say with Job. "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). The question of how we spend our leisure time is very important. It is then that I turn freely and naturally to what I love most.

A teacher in a large school in America is reported to have said, "The greatest difficulty with which we have to contend is the summer vacation. Just when we have brought a child to a good point of discipline, and he responds to the best ideals, we lose him. When he comes back in the autumn, we have to begin and do it all over. The summer holiday simply demoralizes him."

This statement, referring to ordinary study and duty, is strong. Within certain limits, it is applicable to the Christian life. The sudden relaxation of regular habits, and the subtle thought that perfect freedom to do as one likes means perfect happiness, causes many young students to backslide in their Christian walk. Older and more experienced Christians should help the younger ones to guard against this attitude. The attainment of months may be lost by the neglect of a week. We do not know what time the thief will come. The spirit of the morning watch means unceasing vigilance all day and every day.

Your Daily Duty

During vacation time or holidays, the student is free from the rules under which he lives at school. But there are other laws: laws of morality and of health, from which there is no relaxation. The call to daily fellowship with God belongs not to the school rules but to the laws of duty. As much as we need every day during the holidays to eat and breathe, we need every day to eat the bread and breathe the air of heaven.

The morning watch, however, is not only a duty, but an unspeakable privilege and pleasure. Fellowship with God, abiding in Christ, loving the Word, and meditating on it all day-these things are life and strength, health and gladness. Look upon them in this light. Believe in the power of the new nature within and act upon it. Although you do not feel the power, it will come true. Consider it a joy, and it will become a joy to you.

Above all, realize that the world needs you and depends on you to be its light. Christ is waiting for you as a member of His body, day by day, to do His saving work through you. Neither He, nor the world, nor you can afford to lose a single day. God has created and redeemed you, so that through you He may, as through the sun He lightens the world, let His light, life, and love shine out upon men. You need every day anew to be in communication with the fountain of all light.

Do not think of asking for a holiday from this communion with God. Cherish holidays for the special time they give you to study beyond your ordinary Bible study course. Cherish your holidays for the special opportunity of more fellowship with the Father and the Son. Instead of holidays becoming a snare, make them a blessed time for victory over self and the world, of increase in grace and strength, of being blessed and made a blessing.