VACATIONS
by
Dr. Willard M. Aldrich
57:20, 21). How true this is! There are known causes of unrest and worry common to us all. How to pay the bills; how to regain lost health; how to succeed in business; how to gain a sense of security in the love of family and friends, are some of the things which cause us worry. Then there is the oft-named dread of atomic destruction, and the un named fear of judgment after death. “ It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgm enf’ (He brews 9:27). Do you need a vacation from worry? Do you want confidence in place of fear? Are there inner ten sions and frustrations which destroy your peace of heart? Then you need what Christ alone can give. He can give you rest—rest from all fears— rest in Divine forgiveness from all your sins. Hear and heed His invitation, and take a permanent vacation from worry: “ Come unto me, cdl y e that labour and are heavy laden, and I w ill give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and low ly in heart: and y e shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28, 29). Available in tract form from the Amer ican Tract Society, 513 West 166th Street, New York.
all that have needed relaxation ana recreation. We discover that there are deep and demanding cries for inner peace, which neither mountain quiet ness nor pounding surf can fully sat isfy. With the Psalmist we must confess that we have lifted up our eyes “ unto the hills” —we have sought help from the beauties of nature— only to dis cover, “M y help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1, 2). We need a vacation from worry. Strangely enough, the word is not found in the Bible, and little wonder, for the one who trusts the God of the Bible will have no occasion to worry. This wonderful truth is given beautiful expression by the prophet Isaiah: “ Thou w ilt keep him in per fect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust y e in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength ’ (Isaiah 26:3, 4). The same prophet sees the restless ness of thehuman soul which has not found its peace and rest in God. The very seashore to which thousands re pair for recreation and rest is used to describe that restlessness: “ The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah
a T h a t you need is a good vaca- W tion.” This is one bit of advice most of us are prepared to hear. “Yes, sir,” we reply in chorus, “ what I need is a good vacation — a chance to get away from it all, to relax and not have a worry in the world.” What goes to make up this good vacation is pretty much the same for most of us. We want to relax. We want to get out of the routine of ordinary life. We want to shed re sponsibility. We want a change and we want rest. How and where to get such a vaca tion varies with all of us. To some, the mountains are the answer. A good fishing stream satisfies another. The seashore brings to others a complete sense of relaxed well-being. A chang ing panorama of mountains, lakes and shores from behind the wheel of a car means vacation to uncounted thousands. But it is possible to return from a good vacation to discover that the change we needed was not a change of pace nor a change of place, but a change of heart. Getting away from it all may have helped to ease ten sions and to forget worries, but it did not solve them. The vacation gave respite, but not permanent relief. We discover that body and mind are not
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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