Paul's Passing Thoughts

This cannot be accomplished if I stay at the foot of the cross contemplating my precious Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection.  Jesus said to take up the cross and follow Him.

I asked my husband if I could write an article for his blog. With some reservation he agreed.  Why do I want to write an article? Because my husband provokes me. To be truthful, he has provoked me from the very beginning of our relationship, and he continues to provoke me.

With purse in one hand and my trusty Scofield Reference Bible in the other I met Paul for the first time over coffee at Perkins.  Not to be outdone, he pulled his Bible out of his briefcase and placed it on the table next to his laptop. Thus began the first of many provocations.

I teach school and am entering my 38^th year of teaching.  As a lover of words I chose to use the word provoke for a reason.  According to the dictionary, provoke means to move a person to action, to goad or stimulate one into a renewed vigor or action.  Therefore, the reason for the use of the word.  Let me repeat:  My husband provokes me.

Anyone who has known me for a while is aware of how much I cherish my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is first my Redeemer, the author and finisher of my faith.  He is my sustainer, my refuge in time of trouble. Without Him, I would be nothing.  My husband knows my life’s story and in spite of that knowledge, wraps me daily in the healing arms of his love. But, dear friends, Paul continues to provoke me.

He  provokes me to move deeper into the study of God’s Word, to listen with  discernment  to  what is being said about the Word of God, to read  with discernment what other “godly” authors write, and to speak with discernment.

Recently, Paul has provoked me to move from the foot of the cross to a greater joy and reveling; that being, doing the work that God calls me to do each day.  Jesus taught his disciples how to have a servant’s heart by taking up the basin and towel.  He warned his followers that there would be a yoke to carry, a harvest to glean, a going, a teaching, a discipling that must be continued until He comes again.  This cannot be accomplished if I stay at the foot of the cross contemplating my precious Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection.  Jesus said to take up the cross and follow Him.

When I became a believer at the age of 8, I experienced joy, peace, contentment, and a myriad of other emotions. When I close my eyes and remember the day I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior I can experience those emotions again.  But, the joy, peace, and contentment I experience daily as I go forth to serve the Lord, applying His words to my life,  go far deeper than when I first believed.  I attribute this to being provoked by my dear husband.

I hope you have someone in your life that provokes you in the same way.

susan