Monday. [Acts 10:1–16; John 6:56–69]

   When the Lord presented His teaching about the mystery of His Body and Blood, setting it as a necessary condition for communication with Himself and as a source of true life, then many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him (John 6:66). Such an act of God’s boundless mercy toward us seemed too miraculous to them, and their disinclination toward the miraculous tore them from the Lord. The Lord saw this, and although He was prepared to be crucified for the salvation of every person, He did not consider it possible to diminish or cancel the miraculous. It is so crucial in the economy of our salvation! Albeit with regret, He allowed them to depart from Him into the darkness of unbelief and destruction; and said to them and to the chosen twelve as well, will ye also go away? (John 6:67) This showed that He was ready to let them go also, if they could not bow down before the miraculous. So it is, that to flee from the miraculous is to flee from the Lord and Saviour; and one who turns away from the miraculous is as one who is perishing. May those who are horrified by the miraculous heed this! Even they will come across a miracle which they will not be able to thwart: death, and after death, judgment. But whether this inability to thwart it will serve them unto salvation, only God knows.

Wednesday. [Gal. 3:15-22; Mark 6:7-13]

   When the Lord sent the holy apostles to preach, He commanded that they not take anything with them but the clothes on their backs, sandals on their feet, and staff in hand. They were to have no cares about anything, entering in to this work as if everything were fully provided. Indeed, the apostles were completely provided for, without any external provisions. How was this arranged? Through their complete devotion to the will of God; that is why the Lord arranged for them not to have any need for anything. Their preaching moved the hearts of listeners, who fed and sheltered the preachers. But the apostles did not think of this and did not expect anything, committing all to the Lord. That is why they bore any unpleasantness they might have encountered patiently. Their only care was to preach, and their only sorrow was if people would not listen to their preaching. From this came the purity, independence and great fruitfulness of their preaching. The same is needed today as well, but our infirmity demands external provision, without which we will not take a step. This, however, is not a reproach against our apostles of today. In the beginning they definitely find comfort in being provided for, but then the thought of it disappears from their mind, and through their very labour they are raised up to the state of committing themselves to God. Very likely from that moment their preaching begins to be truly fruitful. Committing oneself to God is a very high degree of moral perfection, and people do not reach it immediately the moment they understand its value. It comes on its own after labors over oneself.