“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

The guest speaker walked up onto the platform, placed his open Bible on the pulpit, greeted the congregation and then told them, “My ministry tonight is to provoke each and every one of you. Now some of you are pretty laid back and may be thinking to yourself, ‘I’m pretty hard to be provoked.’   But I’m here to do it!” Folks started to look nervously at each other. What in the world is the guest speaker going to do and say today?

He then turned to the Scripture in Hebrews 10:24 and explained the word “provoked.” Here the idea is to stimulate and encourage people to do the right thing. Good works will never save a person. However, after we trust Christ, the Bible declares, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). May the Lord use each of us today to “provoke” or encourage and stimulate others to well doing.

For today: I’m sure that growing up I “provoked” my two younger sisters in a wrong way. May you and I “provoke” others in the right way today.