Break new ground; do not sow among thorns

He adds: 'And nations will bless themselves in him, and in him they will praise God in Jerusalem. For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to those who dwell in Jerusalem.' He has spoken to those from the nations, and he has spoken to those from Israel; he speaks to those from Judah. I remember the figurative readings said earlier about Judah and those dwelling in Jerusalem. For we dwell—if God grants—in Jerusalem.

Since 'where the treasure is, there the heart is also,' if we store up treasure in heaven, we also have the heart in the Jerusalem above, about which the apostle says: 'But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother,' as it is written, and what follows. So 'thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to those who dwell in Jerusalem: Break new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns.' This word is spoken especially to those who teach, so that they not entrust what is said to the hearers before they make new ground in their souls. For when, putting hand to the plow, they make new ground in souls—according to the good and fine soil of those who hear—then as they sow they do not sow among thorns.

But if, before the plow and before making new ground in the ruling principle of the hearers, someone takes the holy seeds—the word about the Father, about the Son, about the Holy Spirit, about resurrection, about punishment, about rest, about law, about prophets, and in short about each of the things written—and sows them, he transgresses the command that says first, 'Break new ground for yourselves,' and second, 'Do not sow among thorns.'

But one of the hearers will say: 'I do not teach; I am not under this command.' You too become a farmer of yourself, and do not sow among thorns, but make new ground for me in the plot God of all has entrusted to you. Consider the plot; see where the thorns are—where cares of life and deceit of wealth and love of pleasure are. Having seen the thorns in your soul, seek the rational plow about which Jesus says, 'No one who puts hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom of God.' Having sought it and found it, gathering from the Scriptures the pure working oxen, plow and renew the land, and so that it may no longer be old, make it new—putting off the old man with his practices and putting on the new man renewed into knowledge. You will make new ground for yourself, and if you make the new ground, take seeds from those who teach, take seeds from the law, from the prophets, from the Gospel writings, from the apostolic words, and having taken these seeds sow the soul through memory and study. They will seem to spring up of themselves; but in truth after the memory of them it is not they that spring up, but God who grows them: 'I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.' And if anyone has been able to understand the Scriptures, that one has made new ground, and having made it has sown not among thorns. These seeds are managed by God not to become an ear all at once, but as in the Gospel according to Mark: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain.

When it is ready for harvest, those sent out upon the harvest will come. When it is ready for harvest, they will come to whom the word says: 'Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are already white for harvest.' So he says to us: 'Break new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns.' But if, before you cleanse your soul, while you still have thorns, you approach one who can teach or is thought to teach, or ask for lessons and spiritual seeds, you transgress the command that says, 'Do not sow among thorns.'