Contextually, Hebrews 10:25 primarily pertains to abandonment of Christianity, and it referred to a return to Judaism by first century, Jewish Christians. The verse reads: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” However, absenting oneself from the assemblies frequently is only a matter of degrees rapidly traversing the road to complete abandonment. The Hebrews 10:25 context addresses purposeful or willful forsaking of the assemblies of the church (v. 26), for which God will severely punish such offenders (v. 27-31). Verse 31 concludes with the harsh statement: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Under Judaism, when a person was unable due to no fault of his own to observe the Passover on the appointed day, God excused him from observing the Passover on the appointed day (Numbers 9:6-12; 2 Chronicles 30:2-4). However, that person was not excused from observing the Passover, and in those instances, a make up day for observing the Passover was appointed. We may borrow a principle from those biblical citations and discern that God does not assign the guilt of sin when one is truly unable to attend a certain assembly. We, of course, have no authorization for rescheduling a make up worship assembly (complete with the Lord’s Supper) for a day other than the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). However, being unable to attend a certain assembly does not excuse a person from attending all or most of the assemblies (e.g., work). God still requires us to worship him regularly.
A baker cannot be a successful baker if he seldom if ever bakes! A Christian cannot be a successful Christian if he seldom if ever practices Christianity, including worshipping God.
