CONTINUAL unfoldment of good in consciousness rewards earnest, sincere seeking on the part of the student of Christian Science. One of the blessings made manifest is an increasing appreciation of the spiritual messages taught by the parables. When Christ Jesus' disciples asked him (Matt. 13:10), "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" his reply was, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." The Master knew that only the heart which sincerely seeks, finds the kingdom of heaven. Such seeking demands purification of thought, a willingness to abandon false beliefs for a higher concept of God, good, and an expanding awareness of man's true heritage as the child of God.
A study of the parables reveals emphatically the importance which the Master placed on seeking the kingdom of heaven. Again and again he started a statement with the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven is like," and then he compared it to such things as "a man which sowed good seed in his field" (Matt. 13:24), a grain of mustard seed, leaven, a treasure hid in a field, and a fishing net. Thus he endeavored to reach every type of thought, to awaken every individual yet unaware of his true heritage.
Again and again Jesus warned against a material concept of existence, being vehement in his denunciation of feigned exemplary living intended to hide wickedness by conformation to outward appearances, typified by whited sepulchers. He recognized that evil was the motive in the heart of such false claimants to goodness, and it was there he condemned it. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Christian Healing" (p. 7), "'The new tongue' is the spiritual meaning as opposed to the material." She adds farther on, "It begins with motive, instead of act, where Jesus formed his estimate; and there correcting the motive, it corrects the act that results from the motive."
