"IF ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." A glorious promise, which has brought solace, inspiration, and joy to many a weary, heavy-laden heart! Its import is much enhanced in the light of the knowledge which the truth, as revealed by Christian Science, has made available. Like all of the teachings of the great Exemplar, this statement goes to the very foundation of life. The essentials are plain, each emphasizing the meaning of the whole.
In Biblical promises of this nature a condition is attached to fulfillment, showing the operation of spiritual law adjusting the balance between giving and taking. In this instance, the condition is wrapped up in the words, "If ye abide in me." What did the Master intend to convey in making that pronouncement? The personal note cannot be attached to the human Jesus, for the controlling and dominant thought is in the word "abide." It can therefore be associated only with what Jesus, through his spirituality, represented, that is, the Christ, defined by Mrs. Eddy in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 583), as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error."
The word "abide" is significant, arresting. It means to remain continuously. And abiding in Christ, Truth, disannuls all anxious thoughts, and insures the steadying, calm assurance that our heavenly Father knows our needs and supplies them every hour of every day. Even as the lilies of the field and the birds of the air are cared for, so we are likewise sustained and controlled by God.
