Been Provoked Lately?
I had to laugh to myself when this title came to my mind earlier today.
There's hardly a day goes by that the opportunity to be provoked doesn't present itself in my circle of life.
But, as is the case in many stances, God will direct the perception of a concept to a totally different perspective.
He knows my humanness!
So, as I was contemplating where He was taking this thought, I had my mind on a particular situation of recent where I had truly been pushed to the limit of being provoked.
Yes, my tolerance had fallen off the edge of the cliff, and I was sitting on ready to express my rightful reason for being provoked to anger!
Then suddenly, as if to change horses in the middle of the stream, so to speak, this scripture popped into sight! Hebrews 10:24.
And I had to laugh out loud, to myself, of course.
God was trying to divert my carnal mind of thought to something with a more spiritual flavor.
I think God intends for us as Christians to realize this great puzzle of life is always missing a piece intentionally.
We may have a gift which magnifies our ego to the size of this globe...we may be able to exceed our brethren in feats of success in various arenas, we may even be so proud of our humility that we don't feel the need to succumb to a role of an obedient servant.
Trust me, if you feel I am speaking to or about you, join the club!
If words spoken, whether in song or poetry, in novels or self-help books, or especially from God's Word, don't strike a chord of conviction in our hearts, then for sure we are standing in dire need of repentance.
As I pondered on the title, it seemed the relevance of this scripture I'm about to quote took precedence over this feeble mindset I had been entertaining.
The writer of Hebrews was explicit in his admonitions to God's people.
This first version is from King James:
Hebrews 10:24 - "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works."
This next version is from The Voice:
Hebrews 10:24 - "Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds."
Provoke is a strong word, and can be misinterpreted at times.
As I stated, when we use the word provoke, we immediately tend to categorize it to a negative position.
But, look at the word used in The Voice...inspire!
Wow!
The writer is admonishing his readers to consider how to provoke/inspire each other to greater love AND to good works, or righteous deeds!
See, it's easy to provoke to anger. Trust me, I know!
When somebody knows what buttons to push to light my fuse, and her or she does it, then it's only a brief moment til I am p r o v o k e d, big time!
So, if we have buttons which can be pushed negatively to provoke us to anger, then where are our buttons which can be pushed to provoke or inspire us to greater love and good deeds?
Let me see if I can use a familiar instance as an example of my interpretation of this scripture.
Mind you, I'm no know it all or conqueror of life's pitfalls. I've had my share of pulling myself up out of a ditch too many times due to self-indulgence or self-sufficient decisions.
But as I mused on this subject of considering how to provoke fellow believers to greater love and good deeds, I came up on this example of Jesus.
He considered his disciples were men who wanted to find their purpose in life, outside of their secular duties.
In their social realms, they were tax collectors, fishermen, a doctor, a treasurer, so they were pretty self-sufficient fellas.
But Jesus told them, the greatest among them would be a servant. He said He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister to others and ultimately give His life for mankind.
So, in essence if we want to be like Jesus, we must consider each other before ourselves.
We must realize that we all hold a piece of this giant puzzle of life, and if we love others as we love ourselves, we can provoke one another to greater love and righteous deeds.
It's not an easy task. It creates inconvenience, it creates selflessness instead of selfishness, it causes us to look at whatever familiar scenarios may be transpiring in our own personal lives and consider, how can I make my circumstances better?
Let us consider...do an analysis.
This is hypothetical, and even a bit elementary, but I'm going to use it nonetheless.
Josh, my son, comes in, and I've been busy running here and yon, working, doing errands, whatever.
He sees the garbage can is full, the dishes need washing...
He contemplates, hmmm...that's Mom's job.
But, he remembers the above mentioned scripture, and decides if he considers to take a few minutes out of his busy or routine schedule, then in essence he will be fulfilling this scripture. He knows it will lighten my load and make me happy to see a deed done that benefits us both.
He has seen the effects of the old saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
Not much, though!
The shoe can be on the other foot as well.
I think the key word in the scripture used above is "consider".
When we show consideration towards one another, then it's not as difficult to provoke one another to greater love and good works.
See, it's the little foxes that spoil the vine.
Let us take into account the importance of considering one another and in so doing inspiring one another to greater love and good deeds.
It will work, if we work at it!
Anything worth having is worth working for...
Been provoked lately? If not, maybe it's time to consider someone else for a change!
D. S. Mullis
Copyright2016
C
