Day 5: Go and Do Likewise

Daily Flow - 

The Daily Flow will not be listed daily after today so review them each day to make the most of your time with the Lord.

1. Set aside unhurried time. If the day feels full, do not skip—simply slow down as much as you are able.

2. Opening Scripture – Read the passage slowly and prayerfully.

3. Devotional Reflection – Read the short teaching for the day. Allow the truth to settle in your heart.

4. The Examen – Pause and reflect using the questions provided. Write brief responses as you are able.

5. Lectio Divina – Read the Scripture out loud slowly, emphasizing different words or phrases to meditate on the different aspects of the passage.

6. Prayer Prompt – Respond to God in prayer.

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Opening Scripture

Luke 10:37 (NIV) Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Devotional Reflection

Jesus is teaching what it means to love your neighbor to a so-called expert in the law. He tells a parable of a man who comes upon another man who has been beaten almost to death. The catch is that this half-dead man is considered to be an enemy through the lens of identity politics. The man who was beaten was Jewish, while the one who found him was a Samaritan. These two groups carried a great deal of racial tension. It was so severe that Jews traveling north and south would go far out of their way to avoid the region of Samaria.

In the parable, Jesus speaks of other Jewish men—even religious men—who also came upon this tragedy but crossed to the other side of the road to avoid the situation, in contrast to the Samaritan who actually helped. At the end of the parable, Jesus asks the “expert” which of the men had loved his neighbor. The expert answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus then responds, saying, “Go and do likewise.”

The lesson was not complete until the man lived out the principle.

Western society has taught us that we have learned something if we understand it intellectually, but this is not true in Christianity. We can understand a concept but never truly learn it. To learn, we must live it out. We must go and do likewise. It is in the doing that the teaching comes to life. The experience stirs emotions and thoughts that would never manifest without us actually doing the thing.

We can understand the principle of forgiveness, but we do not truly learn forgiveness until we practice it. We can understand generosity, but we do not truly learn it until we give money away. We can understand the principle of living life to the full, but until we pursue the life God has promised with intentional obedience, we never truly learn the principle.

To be devoted to the Lord, we must not simply listen to our teachers. We must go and do the things we learn. Until we live out the principles taught to us, our devotion will be empty. But as we do what we have been taught, we will find our hearts opened to a greater depth of love, compassion, peace, and wisdom, and our devotion will deepen more and more. We must go and do likewise.

The Examen

Where have I recently heard God’s Word or sensed His leading but hesitated to act on it?

Where has obedience—however small—already begun to shape my heart or perspective?

Lectio Divina Scripture

James 1:22 (NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Read the passage slowly, out loud, several times. With each reading, emphasize a different word or phrase. Notice what stands out and why.

Prayer Prompt

Lord, let me not simply listen to Your Word, but do what it says. Let me not simply observe my teachers, but help me to do what I see them doing. Amen.