Dr. Johnson was doubtless right when he said, "Every man has something to do which he neglects; every man has faults to conquer which he delays to combat." He was referring to the so-called natural man, who "receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." It is this so-called man who is disinclined to surrender his own opinions, disinclined to accept any knowledge above and contrary to sense testimony. Not until Christian Science enters his mental abode and inaugurates a systematic course of instruction in the deep things of God does he begin to grasp spiritually and understanding man's true relationship to God, and to exemplify in his own daily life the righteous activity which this higher understanding demands of him. As former thoughts pass away and he catches clear glimpses of the real man, he is more alive to his duty, to, the paramount need of acquainting himself with God.
If there is any one thing that the "natural man" neglects to do, it is to seek first the kingdom of God. He is the unwitting victim of a material education which has led him away from the reality and truth of being into the temptations and allurements of a false material sense which neither knows, nor can it explain, the nature of Spirit, God. Despite his effort to believe in an omnipotent God, he remains the willing servitor of matter and its assumed laws. So long as this material god seemingly fulfils his vain promises of pleasure, ease, and self-satisfaction, it is not difficult to understand a mortal's unwillingness to seek the kingdom of heaven on earth; but when all earthly supports fail to bring surcease from pain and sorrow, it is then that willing obedience is yielded to that all-important command of the Master to seek "first the kingdom of God."
It is a lamentable fact in the history of the Christian world that the meaning of this command should have been overlooked by professing Christians in all denominations, that they should have failed to grasp its practical import, and should have been content to think that if they but professed to believe in God, this was all that was required of them. In this condition of thought the commands of Jesus did not inspire them to a higher plane of Christian thinking and living. They have not considered them as practically adaptable to the needs of every-day life. Their sense of need has meant largely the acquisition of material things, and especially the accumulation of riches,the average business man will argue that his first duty is to provide for himself and family, and that if there is any time left after he has attended to his material affairs he may it he so elect, give some thought to spiritual things. He considers this position perfectly tenable and unassailable, even though you quote Jesus' words to dispute his claim No plainer language than that in the Sermon on the Mount could possibly be employed to discredit this too common theory of mortals, that matter must take precedence of Spirit in the thoughts and affairs of men.
