As a child, I spent a lot of time wondering: Who am I? Where am I really going? In school I was considered a dreamer because I was always looking out of the classroom window and thinking these thoughts.
I gained some perspective on these questions the first time I attended a Christian Science church, as I pondered the Bible passage read at the end of the service: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:1–3). Wow! What a wonderful promise for mankind. But there are also certain conditions in that promise that we need to consider. What does it require of us?
First of all, this passage requires that we see ourselves as the sons and daughters of God. Then it says that in order to see God as He is, to really be able to recognize Him, we must be pure. There are a lot of hints about purity in the Bible. One that is helpful is the story of Jesus’ temptation by the devil, or evil (see Luke 4:1–13). In a way, Jesus was being asked to declare what he really valued—what really comprised life for him. The devil asked, in essence: “Do you live because you eat bread? Do you live for worldly acclaim? Do you live because your material body is intact?” Jesus’ response indicated that none of these things was important in his life, because God was his life. God’s words, and the understanding of those words, were sufficient.
