Summer break marks a big downshift for many. Group Bible studies and small groups often press pause for three months. Teachers and students get a breather, and people in the workforce try to squeeze in some time away from the grind. Parents break free from a confining school-day structure that’s rife with dragging reluctant kids out of bed and surviving the dreaded carline.

But while a more relaxed schedule brings welcome relief for some, it sparks anxiety for others. Unstructured time feels like chaos to people who thrive on routine. People driven by a strong work ethic feel lazy or even guilty for resting. Goal-oriented people feel like they’re drifting further from success. And for those who draw strength from community, time away from small group gatherings may feel lonely or even stifling for spiritual growth.

If you’ve ever felt like rest is a waste of time, take heart. Finding rest in Jesus is never a waste of time. On the contrary, it’s one of the highest and best possible uses of your time. Rest in Christ is the very fuel you need to work heartily, parent wisely, move toward God-given goals, build up others in community, and further the spread of the gospel.

What the Bible Says About Rest

The idea of rest shows up early in the Bible—God rested from His work on the seventh day of Creation and declared it holy (Genesis 2:1–3). God would later establish the seventh day as the Sabbath for His covenant people, instituting a rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest (Exodus 20:8–11). While this was a God-ordained pattern designed for human flourishing, God’s people struggled throughout the Old Testament to keep the Sabbath and were frequently rebuked for profaning it by treating it like any other day (Nehemiah 13:17–18).

By the time of the New Testament, the religious leaders of Jesus’s time swung the pendulum in the opposite direction, twisting God’s intent for the Sabbath into a burdensome ritual that was far from restful. The Pharisees went so far as to lodge accusations against our perfect Savior for having mercy on the sick and healing them on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1–6, Luke 6:6–11).

Jesus set the Pharisees straight, proclaiming it lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:12). Elsewhere, Jesus declared that “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), an apt reminder that the wholeness and well-being of His people were far more important than strict rule-keeping.

While Jesus’s words concerning the Sabbath are deeply telling of God’s heart for rest, Jesus’s most powerful words regarding rest come to us through a generous invitation: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

From all of these Scriptures, we can glean a few truths about biblical rest:

1). God’s design was for His people to have rhythms of work and rest, not for them to work ceaselessly.

2). When we rest, we’re under no obligation to sit on our hands—we still have the freedom to do good and love our neighbors.

3). Rest is a gift for our good, not a burden, trap, or waste.

4). Jesus invites us to lay down the burdens that wear us out and draw close to Him to receive rest for our souls.

Finding Rest in Jesus

So what might it look like to find rest in Jesus during summer break?

It might mean easing into the day, spending unhurried time with the Lord in the morning when you used to hustle the kids out the door for school. It might mean spending more time in nature during long summer days, praising God for His breathtaking creation and crafting worship songs on your guitar. It might mean packing a Bible and prayer journal on your vacation and luxuriating in rare, unbroken time with the Lord. It might mean experiencing the life-giving joy of being the hands and feet of Jesus by serving in your church’s ministries of mercy, distributing food and toiletries to your neighbors experiencing food insecurity or homelessness.

But for all of us who have ever felt like rest is a waste of time, it means resisting the urge to pack our calendars and schedules with endless “doing” and instead freely receiving times of rest as gifts from God for our flourishing.

Author Bio:

Jackie Foster is an Editor at The Daily Grace Co.® She spends most of her time developing and refining the company’s books, studies, magazines, and other resources with the ultimate goal of drawing people to the beauty of the gospel and equipping disciples. She is captivated by Jesus and loves sharing what she is learning from God’s Word with others. In her free time, she loves reading fiction, exploring nature, and enjoying time with her husband, Cody, and their two lively boys, Grayson and Graham.

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