August 29, 2019 PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER
Hebrews 10:24 “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Romans 14:18 “So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”
‘Provoke’ sounds like a harsh word and normally has a negative connotation when we hear it used. The NIV translation of this verse reads “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” We may feel uncomfortable, or feel as though we are invading someone else’s space if attempt to ‘provoke’ or ‘spur’ them on to action. However, that is exactly what the scriptures instruct us to do. There have probably been times when we have provoked someone else, but it was not to love and good deeds! As believers, we have our private lives, but more importantly, we are a part of something much bigger than our individual lives, and that is the body of Christ. We have been joined to God and made a part of His family, and being a part of His family has certain responsibilities and privileges. God has designed His body (His family) is such a way that we need each other; body life is non-optional if we are to mature spiritually. It is the American way to be independent (and that is good in some ways), but that is not the way of body life. As the scriptures tell us, each of the members of our physical bodies need the other members of our body in order for our body to function the way it was designed-so it is with the members of the body of Christ. Because we all face trials, and because we tend to ‘go it alone,’ encouragement plays a big part in the family. There are countless ways in which we can provoke or spur one another on to love and good deeds-and we should be doing just that and not fear that we are invading their space. Our ‘provoking’ and ‘spurring’ is to be done in a spirit of love and from an attitude that desires the best for others. Also, we are not to go about haphazardly spurring others and provoking others to do good deeds, but we are to follow the Spirit’s leading as we consider how to spur others on. We also must remember that we can be the one that is being encouraged to be about love and good deeds. Let us be engaged in the body of Christ, and let us “consider how to provoke one another to love and good works.”
Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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