How provoking

Lily Cathcart March 27, 2025 8 2

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Hebrews 10: 24-25 (NRSVA)

24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I love the use of the word provoke in this passage. ‘…consider how to provoke one another…’

I have been provoked to many negative things before but I am intrigued by the idea of provoking people into positive things. Because of course to provoke people you have to be in touch with them, sometimes you have to be in their space and in their face. And isn’t that how belonging starts?

We live in a society which draws us away from people and towards isolation, away from a lovingly laid table and towards a screen. ‘…not neglecting to meet together…’ the passage says and it is a good reminder that we should not neglect this either. We should go out of our way to invite, to connect and even to provoke in the name of finding that true belonging with each other, with God and with our planet.

Prayer:

Dear God who provokes

Please provoke us into action

Help us not to be afraid to reach out

Untangle our relationship with your world

and with those around us

into a sense of belonging and love

Amen