Today being 6/9 I thought I would look at a 6:9 in the Bible.  In Luke 6:9 it says "Then Jesus said to them "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"  NIV

This poses some interesting thoughts.  Jesus was about to heal a man with a withered hand and it was the sabbath day.  To some of the Jews of His day it was unlawful to do any work whatsoever on the sabbath including healing someone.  Religious rules had gotten in the way of doing good.  It is easy to throw stones at the Pharisees for their attitude in this situation, but it is an attitude that is still among us.  We would like to help, but church rules and regulations and traditions stand in the way.  We can't do what we think would please our Lord because the rules say no no.  Rules and restrictions are there for a reason in most cases.  Usually it involved a response to a particular situation.  Perhaps at one time someone took some food from the church, suppodedly to give to a hungry family, and traded the food for some drugs.  So now the church doesn't allow anyone to take food without approval by a committee, conference, and a lot of other red tape.  That rule was put into place for a good reason.  However, that rule may get in the way of doing something needful. 

It may be a good idea for churches to re-examine some of their rules and regulations from time to time to see whether they are still useful or if they are hindering the work of the Kingdom of God.