Jesus' injunction to Peter, "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation," is, if obeyed, a blessing and protection to all mankind, since there is no one who does not have temptation of some sort to meet. Throughout the epistles, as recorded in the New Testament, the warning to watch is sounded. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, spoke of the need for watching "with all perseverance." And Peter, writing to Christians, said, "Watch unto prayer."
Mrs. Eddy, in her wonderfully clear and helpful article, "Watching versus Watching Out," writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 233): "Ignorance of self is the most stubborn belief to overcome, for apathy, dishonesty, sin, follow in its train. One should watch to know what his errors are." Christian Science teaches us to analyze our motives and to rid ourselves of all sophistry concerning them. Mental self-knowledge may seem difficult to attain until one is accustomed to tracing his impulses and acts to their source. As one does this, he finds that his motives and acts are inspired by the divine Mind or else are the product of mental suggestion. If the impulsion is from divine Mind the motive and act will bless, but suggestions from mortal mind bring confusion and inharmony. Alertness in dismissing erroneous suggestion prevents its outward appearance as discord or sin.
When one's thought is Christianly straightforward and childlike, one finds the simple solution of his human problems. Sincerity and common sense are important aids in our watch against error. Mrs. Eddy's clear and direct statements of Christian Science contain nothing confusing or mysterious, and they should be strictly adhered to.
