Mark reports on more of Jesus’ preaching in these chapters. All of it is illuminating, from Jesus’ words about the difficulty of trusting in riches, to his parable of the murderous vinedressers (Mark 12 v1)

But my favorite is when one of the scribes asks Jesus an honest question: Which is the first commandment of all? It seems obvious if you but read the commandments, but in that time, as now, there were so many regulations and rules attached to faith that it must have been hard to remember sometimes.

Jesus replies: “The first of all the commandments is:’Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength’

“And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

Dear God, Thank you for a beautiful Harvest Festival, where we give You thanks for everything You give us. Thank You for everything. Please let me, us, our family, all of the church, remember that this is our First Commandment: to love You, to seek You, to worship You. Please help me seek You always, so that I can love You as You want me to. Please be with my dad, with Uncle M, and with A, who is looking so hard for work. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen