With July, we have entered the second half of the year and at the time of writing there will be 171 days to Christmas but 194 days since Christmas 2025. So, it is fair to think that Christmas is closer! Though with temperatures around record highs, it is harder to remember the cooler months. Garden plants are under pressure and the warnings not to use hoses have already begun (something else that seems to come around more quickly!)

But rather than looking forward to December, let us first enjoy the opportunity to take a break and recharge. Despite air travel enabling summer holidays all year, there can still be other opportunities for a break to recharge our batteries a little. And  when temperatures are high, it can be good to find a little shade and rest a little.

The Bible gives us some very good precedent for rest. Even in Genesis 2 we read: on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.

God approves of a day of rest, as Exodus 20 informs us:  For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Yet we are not always good at taking the rest! Excluding retail business, our normal working week used to be 5 days, Monday to Friday. This would allow a day to do our own work on Saturday and a day of rest on Sunday. Yet our busy world has tended to squeeze out the rest, with sport, weekend school activities plus the ‘essential’ shopping activities like Bluewater.

The trouble is that we do not then start the new week refreshed. More likely we are still juggling with the things that we didn’t get done, making us feel weary and weighed down. But does it all have to be done?

I remember an ‘effective use of time’ course. The trick, unsurprisingly, was to assess the importance of what we are doing: keep doing what is most important and reduce the less unimportant things. To decide if it is important, consider what would happen if it does not take place? If some cases, it must happen, but in others it may not be as essential. Things we do as a habit, or simply because they are there.

Prioritising helps, but I am sure many of us feel we do not have the time to prioritise – I mean, all these things we have to do! The Bible has something to say about this: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).   

For anyone who knows God, this is helpful. For the sceptical reader, I suggest the benefit of pausing in all our busyness and looking around – the birds, the trees and the plants that quietly get on with life. True, they are not burdened with all our responsibilities, but the pause may allow us to change our perspective a little and consider how we might free some of our time – for rest, in whatever form we choose.

By taking a break and breathing, things can become clearer. And building in a rest, in the day, in the week, or in the year, may also help us to work better.

God bless.

John Webster