Christ Jesus was once asked by the mother of James and John (Matt. 20: 21), "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom." No doubt this mother, not realizing that spiritual attainments are earned and not humanly bestowed, was yielding to the personal desire to have her sons placed in favored positions.
Jesus' reply was, "To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." In other words, Jesus pointed out the certainty that those ready for the blessing prepared for them would always receive it.
Mary Baker Eddy has made this point clear when she says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 455): "God selects for the highest service one who has grown into such a fitness for it as renders any abuse of the mission an impossibility. The All-wise does not bestow His highest trusts upon the unworthy. When He commissions a messenger, it is one who is spiritually near Himself."
