LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark: 29/30).

A university professor gave his students a large jar, then some rocks, stones and sand and asked them to fit as much as they could into the jar. The students found that if they put the sand and stones in first, there was no room for the rocks. But if they put the rocks in first, then the stones fitted around them and the sand filled all the gaps.

The professor's point was Priorities'. If you fill your time with less important things (sand), you will have no time for more important things (stones). But if you put the most important things (rocks) in place first, then everything else will fit around them. This is a modern version of the first of the Ten Commandments which declared: "You shall have no other gods before me". God was saying - I am to be Number One, your first Rock, making the first claim, calling for your first allegiance'.

The people found that when they kept to this commandment, everything else fitted around it. But when they put sand in place of the Rock, everything fell apart. Jesus repeated the same call. When asked to name the most important commandment he said it was to love God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy' (The Message Bible version of our text).

In practical terms, what does it mean to give first place to God? It means continually living in his presence, speaking with him, enjoying him, loving him, rejoicing, praising, crying, complaining - doing everything with an awareness of God being present. Giving God the first place is a key step to renewal.

This week's thought: Don't borrow trouble by mortgaging tomorrow.