IN the epistle of James we read, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Every loyal citizen realizes the blessings that come from obedience to the laws of his country, and he also knows that for the least infraction of law there is a penalty to be paid. Just so it is with the laws of God. All through the Scriptures we read of the glorious results of obedience to God's commands, and every earnest Christian is striving to be obedient in every respect. And yet, how often we seem to fail to reap the rewards that are promised to those who obey God. It is certain that the promises in the Bible are as true and vital to-day as they ever were; and it behooves us to see in what point we, perhaps, are offending, thereby becoming "guilty of all."
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, realized more clearly than all others since the time of Christ Jesus and the apostles the great necessity of unswerving adherence to the laws of God; and all through her writings she has shown us that only as we are obedient in thought, word, and deed are we really keeping the law in the sense that the Apostle James intended. In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 339), Mrs. Eddy has written, "The basis of all health, sinlessness, and immortality is the great fact that God is the only Mind; and this Mind must be not merely believed, but it must be understood." Therefore, since God is the only Mind, all true thought must come from God, and consequently must express the nature of God, who is all good. With our understanding enlightened as to what Mind, God, is, we can begin to see how we have been breaking the law when we have accepted the suggestions of fear, scorn, hate, malice, envy, sickness, and poverty, instead of the thoughts of love, joy, gratitude, health, freedom, abundance, which would naturally come from the Mind that is God, good, and which are the outcome of His tender love for His children. Anything that is unlike good, that has the slightest taint of materiality, is not of God, but is a suggestion or belief of the mortal or carnal mind, which is the supposititious opposite of the divine Mind, and which, we are told in Romans, "is enmity against God."
Our first step in obedience, then, is to understand that God is the only Mind and His thoughts or ideas the only realities. We see immediately that our consciousness must be cleared of all false beliefs and material hypnotic suggestions, in order that these beautiful thoughts or messages from God may fill our thinking and govern every least detail of our living. It is impossible to lay too much stress on the value of right thinking, because it is only on this firm foundation that we can build noble characters, beautiful lives, so that we may be valiant followers of our faithful Way-shower, Christ Jesus, whose earnest prayer was, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
