Letter 54: Now is the time to serve the Lord and bear fruits of righteousness.

I know that, by God's help, you have gained what is useful for life. Yet you are a little sluggish on your road, because in your eyes this corruptible world, which is passing away, is more precious than virtue. If someone uses it passionately, it greatly drives the mind away from the knowledge of God, while the enemies who long for our destruction make common cause with it. Now is the time to serve the Lord and produce fruits of righteousness. From the fruits of righteousness, Christ, the tree of life, springs up in the pure hearts of human beings, giving shade to all who are burned by the scorching heat of vice.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): οιδα οτι την εις την ζωην ευχρηστιαν δια θεου καλως κεκτησαι ολιγον δε οκνεις εν τηι οδωι σου οτι υπερ την αρετην τιμιος εν τοις οφθαλμοις σου ο φθαρτος κοσμος ο παραγων ωι αν τις εμπαθως χρωμενος τον νουν της θεου γνωσεως σφοδρα εξιστησι των εχθρων των τον ολευφον ημων επιποθουντων αυτωι συνθεμενων. καιρος νυν εστι τωι κυριωι λατρευειν και καρπους δικαιοσυνης ποιειν οτι απο καρπων δικαιοσυνης της ζωης το δενδρον, ο Χ., αναφυει εν ταις καθαραις των ανθρωπων καρδιαις επισκιαζον παντας υπο καυσωνος της κακιας καιομενους Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.