Biblical view on vacations?

What is the Biblical view on vacations? Is it Biblical to take a few weeks off to sit on the beach or relax in the mountains, or go on a road trip or travel to a different country? How about taking vacation for a few months, such as a teacher during the summer months? Some other jobs also have generous leave. And, how about vacation/time off every single year...is that excessive?

We all need rest, which the Bible dictates as one day out of seven days. I picture this as staying at home or driving out to the beach for the day. However, vacation can be separate and different from rest days, since vacation generally involves travel and splurging a bit not just relaxing. And, even people who do not have vacation/travel can have rest. Some people travel a lot, not for evangelism or volunteer purposes, but for sightseeing, experiencing new cultures, trying new food, or just to have fun etc. My view is that, all we read about travel/vacation is true, in that a person can grow or become more self-aware, we learn or our perspectives change, etc. Time off is beneficial for health too. However, the time and money spent on vacation could be spent on more important things too. Where do you draw the line?

I don't know so much about your vacation. My vacation sure does involve a lot of relaxing.

As for what the Bible says, there are plenty of groups of days God said to take off, not just one day out of every seven. One of them, I can't remember which off the top of my head, God specifically mentioned they were to eat, drink and enjoy themselves, that their hearts may be full of thanksgiving. Or something like that.

Joseph and Mary went on an extended road trip that took them into Egypt for a while, so I guess vacations are okay.

We need to be led by the Spirit. That's the problem with legalism, it cannot answer such questions. Israel had various feasts and even a year of Jubilee where the whole nation was reset, so to speak. I'm retired. There is no mention of retiring in the Bible. I do a bit in the garden, try to get fit by bike riding and spend too much time on the computer.

The point of the Sabbath was for the people to rest. God rested however long ago the present world was created. The believer's rest is in Christ. I get a brief email from Professor James Tour. He is an evangelist as well as one of the world's leading scientists. He does more in a day than most people do in a week. I asked him once, "When do you sleep?" He did not reply! Charles Spurgeon often took much time off to deal with depression and the illnesses he suffered.

We need to ensure that we maintain our walk with Jesus whatever we are doing. I did a bit of international travel for work. It's nowhere near as glamorous as I expected. It was more difficult to maintain a good prayer routine. If we are traveling for leisure, we need to make sure that we do not overload ourselves and keep time aside for fellowship.

With any activity, hobby, occupation or relationship, we should ask ourselves what is the effect on us spiritually. Everything is lawful but not everything is edifying.

The same as morning coffee ...

Early and often?

CONSIDER THESE SCRIPTURES:

Mark 6:30-32 KJV
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.

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Ecclesiastes 3:13 KJV
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

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Luke 5:16 KJV
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

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Matthew 11:28 KJV
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

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Mark 2:27 KJV
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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Leviticus 23:3 KJV
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

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Psalms 132:3-5 KJV
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

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Proverbs 16:9 KJV
Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

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Revelation 4:11 KJV
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

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Exodus 20:11 KJV
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

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Genesis 8:22 KJV
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

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Luke 12:33-34 KJV
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

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Deuteronomy 14:22-26 KJV
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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Hebrews 4:8-9 KJV
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

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Matthew 24:32 KJV
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

The Exodus was the biggest vacation in the Bible.

Thousands of Hebrews left their work in Egypt to go on big camping trip to the promised land. God really wanted them to go on holiday so they could worship Him.

Talk about a vacation gone awry!!

This sounds like a corporate question to get people to work more. 🤣

Joseph and Mary traveled a lot. They even went to Egypt..... granted I wouldn't call it a "vacation" as they were fleeing king Herod. Still.... they must have had enough money to do so.

People were always moving in the Bible. I think God would prefer us to move to the beach. Promise land 😆 sorry couldn't resist. I do not think God is against vacations nor is it a sin.

I've always appreciated what is commanded in the following verse. In fact, I tried to figure out ways to incorporate at least the spirit behind that command during my first year of marriage (which was a little more than 35 years ago now, PTL), because taking an entire year off from work simply wasn't possible.
Beyond that, I think Mark 6:30-32 speaks most directly to the idea of a time of rest from our labors, like a vacation (and fortunately for us, @p_rehbein has already posted it for us above).

Vacations are neither forbidden nor commanded in Scripture, which means that they are adiaphora (between you and God to work out). Of course, they don't mean that we can take a vacation from being who we are in Christ, so it seems to me that verses like the following should never pop up like red flags concerning the vacations we are planning, or that we are in the middle of enjoying .. e.g. Colossians 3:17 cf Romans 14:23b.

~Deuteronomy (David)

My issue is that I could use the time and money spent on vacation on something more "useful" or beneficial to others. I could either be donating the funds to church/charity, or saving more towards retirement, etc. I guess part of my "guilt" is that I don't "tithe". I stopped giving money to my prior church when I moved cities, though I am still technically still a member. My church was becoming a bit political so I no longer felt "cheerful" about giving. I currently follow a few churches virtually. So sometimes I feel, maybe I should give the vacation money to church? I think some of this guilt can be remedied if I started donating to church/charity.

Most of my vacations involve a flight, either visiting a friend (so there costs are less since I don't have to pay for lodging), or a friend and I may travel to a different destination sometimes outside the country. So, the cost adds up. I think the Bible speaks of taking time off to pray, focus on God, etc. Well, vacations are generally not like that since one is busy sightseeing, or relaxing and being lazy, etc. For example, say an American follows British football/soccer, is it wasteful if this person travels to Manchester or Liverpool every year or so to watch games? Or, what if someone wants to have a vacation which is costly, either because of destination is experience (skiing, etc.) is expensive. It still seems a bit wasteful, even if the person can easily afford it. There are plenty of people who can easily afford such things but go on more frugal vacations like camping.

I guess the follow-up question is, since there is agreement that vacation/taking time off is good or at least not sinful, does the type of vacation matter? To what extent should we consider length and cost of vacation?

For many years we took the kids on a vacation for the two weeks after Christmas. Today we're retired and are on permanent vacation. We consider it a joy to be able to spend some of our vacation time working around the house and helping others.

I do feel that if you are not giving a fixed % of your income to God, you are missing a great blessing.

In what ways can one give income to God?

I agree, but I believe there are various ways to give to God. My issue is that I feel that money can be put to better use in other Christian charities with low admin costs rather than church which has high admin costs. Generally speaking, we are warned not to give to charities with high admin costs.

Depends what works for you, I guess.

When I was a kid my mother did forced march vacations. We have to do this, visit there, see that incredible thing, by a certain time today. We can't afford to miss any of them, because we won't have room for them tomorrow. Tomorrow is full of other stuff.

The last four or five times I took a vacation, I holed up in a motel room with food to eat and a laptop full of videos to watch. That was good for a week or so. Then I was ready to rejoin society for another year.

You can also go on Christian mission overseas for vacation if you like! Here is an example:



There are other Christian organizations with missions domestic and overseas to choose from, so carefully read their doctrine, what their plans are, for how long, etc. and ask God if this is something He would like to go on together with you!


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I think you are WAY overthinking this. This is certainly not a scriptural issue. The Jewish folks in Jesus' time had people that had this same mentality.... they called them Pharisees.... make a "rule" for every little thing, instead of living in the freedom that Jesus brought us... get your attitude Christ-like, and everything else falls into place..... without the rules and restrictions.

OP To me it seems you are worried about something or feeling guilty because you have extra, but didnt you work hard for it and so do need time off? Dont overwork yourself.

I dont know what you do but generally when people work full time they are entitled to at least 4 weeks paid leave to spend on whatver they want even if they just stay at home and catch up on housework or with friends and family. And sometimes we need time to ourselves.

Its called having work life balance.

The whole tithing thing is OT thing about giving a tenth of your produce to the levites who were in charge of the temple because THEY didnt have any land to produce anything. Unless you are working on a farm or producing things (it wasnt money) the whole practice of giving church money is just a rule that others have made up to pay for overheads, and it was the OT way of covering expenses. Today we just pay tax to govts...and most of the time, if you are an employee, its already deducted (PAYE) before you even get your pay slip.

Wouldnt we all love to have a problem of 'Ive got so much money, I must give it away!' well think about what would most benefit others. Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in railroads and he was compelled to give it away before he died so he funded what are now american public libraries so ordinary working people or practically anyone can borrow books for free.

Maybe think in terms of, who would benefit the most and it might be you pay the expenses of someone else who really needs a break and cant afford to do so. Do it anonymously of course unless you know that person.

are you for real? to each, his own. complexities & variables will always exist in vacations & anything else. my interesting vacation story: i always called or visited my paternal grandmother. her & i had a special bond, my favorite person ever. so, eventually she was put in a nursing home in which i took care of her for 9 & a half years. 1 of my dreams in life was to go somewhere by myself for a 2 week vacation. so the Holy Spirit said to me, "you're free to go after grandma". so, very quickly, my travel agent booked me a 2 week vacation to St. Thomas. i enjoyed 1of the most memorable times of my life partly because i knew i was unselfish taking care of grandma & God "allowed" me to go. vacations are3 very much needed. if someone feels guilty vacationing, there is something very wrong. I've been on 27 vacations, 5 cruises & mini vacations & never felt guilty or that i shouldn't be doing it. time & $ spent on vacations could have been spent on better things? you have to figure that out before you go. if someone feels that way, something's wrong again.