Abundance is a spiritual fact. The riches of divine Love are continually pouring forth from God to bless all mankind and are manifest in countless ways to the receptive thought. Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, expresses this truth on page 307 of "Miscellaneous Writings" where she says: "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love!" And this "glorious inheritance"—this great gift— how best can it be utilized to carry out its divine purpose? In answer, let us recall Jesus' statement(Luke 6:38): "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
This is a graphic presentation of the law that as we utilize our understanding of omnipresent Love and express helpfulness, generosity, and tenderness toward mankind, good returns to us in larger measure; that it may be repeatedly given joyously and gratefully, with an increasing consciousness of abundance, a realization that unlimited good belongs to man as God's reflection. We find that our supply is inevitably multiplied through wise and generous use of spiritual ideas. Christ Jesus gave generously of his spiritual riches, and he never lacked for anything needful. "All things that the Father hath are mine," he told his followers(John 16:15). Thus, through actively expressing or reflecting God, may we all see in our human experience the proofs of our God-given abundance. Since all that we actually have comes from God, how can we believe that there is any limit lo its affluence? The activity that flows from Mind never began, will never end, and is limited for us only as we ourselves set limits to it.
At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus acknowledged the Father's bounty with gratitude in the words(John 11:41, 42): "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always." He knew that Love was operating for him and for Lazarus right then and there. True gratitude includes acknowledgment; and so with supreme confidence he called, "Lazarus, come forth," and immediately there appeared the proof that Life, not death, is the spiritual, eternal fact. Thus he gave the great gift of his understanding of eternal Life and a vision of the glory of God, along with its human proof.
