Christian Science discloses a wealth of practical meaning in the word "obedience," teaching the student to be obedient in all things. Obedience is defined as "the act or fact of obeying, or the state of being obedient; compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control; words or actions denoting submission to authority; dutifulness."
Now God "doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, ... and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" In other words, God is the divine authority, who rightfully demands man's complete obedience and unquestioned compliance with His will. Christian Science reveals God to be divine Mind, unchanging divine Principle, eternal good. We are obedient to divine Mind in so far as we reflect this Mind; we abide in divine Principle in the ratio that we apply its rules, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," Truth; we serve God, good, in the proportion that we think good thoughts and acknowledge good as the only power and presence.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." Shall Spirit or matter, good or evil, be our master? Let us choose Spirit, good. We obey and serve that which we either love or fear. To love good is to love God, the infinite All. To fear evil is impossible when we know, as Mrs. Eddy tells us in her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 (pp. 12, 13), that "evil is neither quality nor quantity: it is not intelligence, a person or a principle, a man or a woman, a place or a thing, and God never made it." This understanding likewise excludes any propensity to fear God or to love evil.
