IN the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah we read, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?" In human affairs how many of us have experienced the illusive nature of the things we thought we must have! When we got them we were still unsatisfied. The pleasure which in expectation we were to receive vanished on the receiving. Christian Science has revealed to us why this is so. The gratification of human material desires could not possibly satisfy our real selves, hidden by material sense from each one of us. The real man—our real selfhood—was reaching out and seeking, not temporal, but everlasting things, even before we knew it.
Speaking about human needs, the Master said, "Take no thought for your life. . . . But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." There must have been definite reasons why the Master, even while he recognized the human needs, commanded his followers to take no thought for them. In everyday experience, if we observe closely we find that continual thinking about our human needs has unsatisfactory results. The needs become magnified; they seem more and more vital to our well-being, and then we become fearful that they may not be forthcoming. "Fear hath torment," the Scriptures tell us; and in addition it induces the very things feared. Job said, "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me." On the other hand, seeking first the kingdom of God surely means seeking the truth about God and His creation in every situation that arises. God is good, the only real power, the only cause and creator. He is Love, our Father-Mother, infinite; and He therefore has unlimited good for all His children. Man is the idea of God, divine Love; and from its very nature and qualities Love can never cease to support its own idea, to maintain it, and to provide it with all that it requires, always. We cannot, however, serve two masters. We cannot think about God and His abundance and at the same time think about material things. The one excludes the other from thought. It is important for us to remember that our thoughts determine our outward conditions. If we would bring the kingdom of God into our experience, it must be by continually and steadfastly holding thought to the "things above." This is our part of the work, our duty; and, having fulfilled it, we can leave the rest to God, who will supply all we really need.
Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 4), "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds." It was surely such prayer as this which enabled Jesus to meet every human need. He never once failed to supply the needful thing. In the account of the feeding of the five thousand there is much food for thought. While he had made it very clear in his teachings that the real bread of life is not material, yet, seeing the multitude far away from their homes or any place where they could purchase food, he at once set about supplying their need. To the physical senses it seemed a hopeless task to feed five thousand men, besides women and children, with five loaves and two fishes; but Jesus took what was at hand, and looked up to heaven, away from the evidence of the material senses. He knew that everything good is possible to God, and that the Father who cares for the sparrow cares for His children everywhere and at all times.
