Go and Do Likewise

Week 1: Who Is My Neighbor? Sunday

This Week’s Memory Verse

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27 NIV

Psalm

Psalm 143:8-10: Read this passage slowly and let it turn your heart toward God.

Proverbs

Proverbs 11:25: Read this verse and consider how God’s wisdom shapes the way you live today.

Today’s Thought

The expert in the law began by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” At the end of the story, Jesus asked a different question: Which man “was a neighbor” to the wounded man?

“The one who had mercy on him,” the expert answered.

Then Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

Jesus moved the conversation from identifying our neighbor to becoming one. That is where this week needs to end, and where a lifestyle of mercy begins.

Following Jesus should increasingly change the way we SEE people, the way we FEEL about people, and the way we MOVE toward people. We won’t do this perfectly. We won’t meet every need. But we can become people who are available to Jesus and willing to love the person He places in front of us.

The question today is not simply, “Who is my neighbor?” It is: “Am I becoming one?”

Pray

“Jesus, thank You for the mercy You have shown me. Make me a person who sees, feels, and moves toward others with Your love. Help me go and do likewise. Amen.”

Today’s Mercy Step

Review the people and needs God brought to your attention this week. Choose one relationship or act of mercy you will continue beyond this week. Put a specific next step on your calendar.

Following Jesus by loving the people right in front of us…or next door,

Pastor Mark