God is interested in every part of our lives, and holiday are an ideal opportunity to spend more time with God and to allow Him to minister into our lives. We can go ‘on retreat’ to be with God, but even in a sun-soaked, fun-filled holiday, we have more time and need to use this wisely (Eph 5:16). We can, for example, spend more time looking at specific themes in the Bible or reading book we normally are too busy to read. We can set aside time to pray and to seek God’s direction for our lives. Holidays are relaxing and in those moments of relaxation, we can find God speaking afresh.
What turns a holy day into a holiday is ‘I’. We need to leave the kitchen sink behind when we go away but not push God out and so our holidays can be, like the Jewish festivals, ‘holy days’ of encounters with God.