Luke 13:10-17 NKJV

10Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

14But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Now, I am going to preface this by saying that, as Christians, we are not under the Old Testament Sabbath law. When Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross, he did away with the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. But what remained intact were God’s moral laws. For Jesus Christ is now our Sabbath rest, and we are to worship him in spirit and in truth every day of the week, at any time of day or night, and at any location, even on the internet.

But the Scriptures do give us the freedom to have one day that is more special to us than the others if that is what we choose, but we also have the freedom to see every day alike if we choose. For the day of the week has nothing to do with our relationships with our Lord, for we are to worship our Lord 24/7, day or night. And by worship I don’t mean having a song service followed by someone preaching a sermon. For true worship of our Lord is us dying to sin and obeying our Lord in submission to him and to his will.

And while I am on this subject, please know that “the church” is not a building built by human hands. And those buildings called “church” are not “the house of the Lord” in whom God dwells. And the church is not to be joined together with the ungodly and with the world in unholy unions. So the church is not to be incorporated under the state, nor is it to be run like a business being marketed to the people of the world in order to “grow their numbers.” We who believe in Jesus are the church. We are its building.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

But for those who still hold to keeping the Sabbath or who hold to having to attend a “worship service” once a week on a Saturday or a Sunday, please know that the purpose of our gatherings is not to follow some strict religious practices passed down to us from generation to generation, which were decided for us by human beings who saw ritualistic practices as true worship of God. And they are not to serve as concerts and for entertainment purposes in order to attract the world to our gatherings, either.

The purpose for our gatherings is so that we, the body of Christ, might encourage and exhort one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in holy living. This is so we can help one another to develop close walks with our Lord in faithfulness to his service and to warn one another against “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who are teaching lies to the people, and who are leading many astray. And so we are to be speaking the truth of God’s word to one another, in love, so we are not hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

[Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

In other words, we are to serve one another as God’s healing agents who help one another to grow close to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. Our gatherings are not to be so traditionally structured with human-based traditions that there is no room for us to serve one another in helping one another to heal spiritually and to live holy lives pleasing to God. God never intended our gatherings to be so ritualistic that there was no room for us, his body, to minister to one another as we ought.

For “church” is not something we go to once a week, on one particular day of the week, at any specific time of the day where we sit as spectators who sing some songs and who listen to a sermon and then go home until the next week where the same thing gets repeated over and over. We who believe in Jesus are the church, and all of us are its ministers. And God has given us all gifts and body parts which we are to be using for the building up of the body of Christ to maturity in our faith, as EACH PART does its work.

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

Traditions vs Compassion
An Original Work / May 14, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love