“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” (Colossians 2:16)

This is the only verse in the New Testament that has any reference to holidays (at one time considered “holy days”). However, the Greek word so translated does occur there quite often, being rendered elsewhere always by its correct meaning of “feasts.”

Such “holy days” in the Old Testament economy normally required “no servile work” to be done on those days and were usually associated with a special “feast” of some deep spiritual significance. They certainly were not holidays in the modern sense, devoted mostly to pleasure.

In fact, it is perhaps significant that neither holidays nor vacations are mentioned in the Bible at all. The weekly Sabbath “rest” day is, of course, frequently emphasized. One day in seven has always been observed as a day to rest from labor and to remember our Creator. However, the other six days were to be spent working. Many can still remember when the norm was a six-day work week.

Not so now. Many complain about even a five-day week, and “T.G.I.F.” is a common feeling as the “weekend” approaches. “Labor” Day is now a day mainly for fun, but it might be a good day for Christians to thank God for the privilege of work and doing that work “heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Our work, whatever it may be, can become a real testimony for (or, sadly, against) the Lord whom we profess to serve.

In the ages to come, there will still be work to do for the Lord. In that day, it is promised that “his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3). Therefore, we should be “abounding in the work of the Lord” right now. It will not be “in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). HMM