Fridays Feast

We are over halfway through Lent. The kids asked me today how far we were and sure enough lunch is in sight :) Only 3 weeks until Easter! What a blessing it has been to FEAST on God's word as we fast from our lunch meal! Fridays are a busy day with co-op in the afternoons but we were able to enjoy some spiritual nourishment before rushing out the door.
May today's passages bless you as well.


Hosea 14:2-9
² Take words with you and return to the LORD.
Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.^a]">

³ Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses.
We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion."

⁴ "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;

⁶ his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

⁷ Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain.
He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me."

⁹ Who is wise? He will realize these things.
Who is discerning? He will understand them.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Mark 12:28-34
²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

²⁹"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ³¹The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

³²"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.