"I SHALL NOT WANT"

FOR every need there is available an abundant supply. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," the Psalmist declared (Ps. 23:1). Supply is, therefore, of God, and because God, the source, is ever present and infinite, supply is ever present and infinite.

What is the greatest need of men? Is it material things, or is it an understanding of God? Jesus' answer to this question is found in that great sermon of his which we call the Sermon on the Mount. He said (Matt. 6:31-33): "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

The human needs such as food, drink, housing, health, and so forth, the Saviour recognized as legitimate and necessary to human experience. But they were not the most important things. The seeking of the kingdom of God comes first, he said. And this seeking, this hunger and thirst after righteousness, he promised, will bring to mankind whatever material supply is needed. Such supply is not scant or scarce, but is abundant, for Jesus' very purpose, according to John (10:10), was that men "might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Where is God whom we are to seek? Afar off? Difficult to find or to understand? Separated from man by time or space? No. The Scriptures assure us that God is "not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:27, 28). A shepherd is not a faraway, uninterested, inaccessible guardian of his sheep.

David knew well how close at hand, how ever-available, how ever-mindful of his flock a shepherd is; so he called God by the lovely name of "shepherd." "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

Then in beautiful imagery, David spoke of the green pastures and still waters which the shepherd supplies for his sheep. Green pastures and still waters represent to us the richness of God's blessings: security, nourishment, joy, and peace. David spoke also of restoration of what might seem to have been lost and of the shepherd's wise and loving guidance. Yea, though we pass through the most difficult of experiences, the depths of darkness and despair, "the valley of the shadow of death," even there is God, our tender, loving Shepherd, His rod and His staff supporting and comforting us.

In the midst of our enemies (enemies are not people; they are wrong thoughts—fears, doubts, jealousies, resentments, and so forth) God cares for us and supplies bountifully all our needs. Our "cup runneth over" with good! As heirs of God, we share in His abundant love. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow [us] all the days of [our] life: and [we] will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

We can laugh at the wolves of evil, sin, disease, and death, which would claim to prey upon the sheep of God's pasture and which seem at times to howl long and vociferously of their presence and power. For nothing can prey upon, nothing can deceive, nothing can hurt God's children. The Scriptures assure us that there is one Father of us all, one creator, one God, and that we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Christian Science makes these Scriptural assurances practical in everyday living. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 150), "God is universal; confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect." And she further explains: "Again, this infinite Principle, with its universal manifestation, is all that really is or can be; hence God is our Shepherd. He guards, guides, feeds, and folds the sheep of His pasture; and their ears are attuned to His call."

If the sheep heed not the shepherd's call, if they foolishly or stubbornly refuse to follow where his wisdom and love lead, will not they fall into all kinds of traps? And is it not the same with us? We always have the Word of God with us in the Scriptures and in Mrs. Eddy's writings. If we heed not God's Word, are we not just as foolish as the sheep who heed not their shepherd's voice? God "guards, guides, feeds, and folds" us, Mrs. Eddy says. Then is not our part to love and trust our Shepherd, to listen to His Word and be obedient?

A young woman, a Christian Scientist, was deeply troubled over a business situation which involved both inharmonious human relationships and insufficient salary. She felt hedged about by suspicion and distrust on the part of her employer, and unfriendliness, even hostility, on the part of her co-workers. She herself was filled with bitterness almost to the point of hatred.

Suddenly she realized that what she needed was to stop listening to and accepting suggestions of discord and to listen to the voice of Love, the Shepherd's voice. One of the first things she had learned as a Christian Scientist was Mrs. Eddy's hymn in which these words occur (Poems, p.14):

Listening to God, we learn that mutual understanding and co-operation are the natural and necessary outcome of Mind's jurisdiction. And since God's provision of abundant good is infinite and ever present, supply is not to be measured by a limited, fluctuating human standard, but by the infinite riches, the infinite love, of God.

A great change took place in the student's work. Her affairs began to straighten out. Her associates quickly responded to her more friendly approach; happiness in her work improved the quality of the work; and her salary was increased. The Saviour's promise, "All these things shall be added unto you," was literally fulfilled when she put God first and acknowledged that both she and her neighbor were God's children, guided, guarded, motivated, and governed by Him.

Recognizing that man is not partly good and partly bad, partly just and partly unjust, but that he is God's likeness, God's perfect, spiritual idea, forever good, forever sinless, pure, well, and free, helps us to prove that God is our Shepherd, that we shall not want.