Articles
Vacation
This is the time of year for vacations. Typically, the weather is conducive to traveling, and the kids are out of school. The word vacation comes from vacate, which means to be unoccupied. A true vacation is a time to be unoccupied by the normal concerns of life. I can recall hearing many sermons about Christians not getting vacation time. We don’t get a day off from living our faith. This is true. The New Testament says much about having a faith that works. Consider James 4:14-17.
What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
As a follower of Jesus, we should stay occupied. We have a purpose in life, and it is that purpose that keeps us occupied with good works. In the Old Testament, the temple was associated with worship, with God’s presence, and with God’s glory. Today, we are the temple. In the letter of First Corinthians, the church is told that they are the temple of God. Both as individuals, as well as collectively, the Christian is the temple of today.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
The New Testament paints several pictures of what it means to be a Christian. In addition to being the temple, we are also citizens of a kingdom. As much as we might value our earthly citizenship, our citizenship in God’s kingdom is of far greater value. Just as a temple has a purpose, so too, a citizen has a purpose. The citizen of a kingdom must honor the King and not bring reproach upon the King and the kingdom.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:14)
It would be a tragic mistake to decide to vacate our faith. We should want to always be occupied with the things of God. If you are in Christ, remember that wherever you might travel, you are the temple of God and a citizen of His Kingdom.
