Friday. [II Cor. 11:5-21; Mark 4:1-9]

   Behold, there went out a sower to sow. Since the time that this sower went out to sow, he has not ceased to sow. In the beginning he personally sowed, then through the apostles and at last through Divine Scripture and divinely-wise teachers. To this day the word of God’s truth is being sown everywhere. Just be prepared to show yourself as good ground and without fail you will be sown. God will raise up what has been sown. How do you make yourself into good ground? With attention and study of the word of God, sympathy and love toward it, and readiness to immediately carry out what you learn. With such a mindset, not a single word will lie on the surface of your soul, but all will pass within. Uniting there with the elements of the spirit which are native to it, it will take root and sprout. Being nourished then—from above through spiritual inspirations, and from below through good desires and labours—it will grow into a tree, give flower and fruit. God Himself arranged everything around us this way, and this is why we cannot but be amazed at our fruitlessness. But all of this is due to our inattentiveness and carelessness.