WHAT joy Jesus must have experienced after he resisted the specious suggestions of evil! We read, "The devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him" (Matt. 4:11). Human language can hardly describe the exaltation that comes when the peace of God, the divine presence, illumines the consciousness after the tempter has been effectively rebuked.
The Christian Scientist who has been willing to relinquish his most cherished human hopes in humble submission to the divine will can in some measure understand the experience of Jesus. This relinquishment includes the supreme effort of turning away from the devastating testimony of material sense to insist on the facts of true being until out of the darkness of despair has come an influx of light transcending anything material and bringing a peace unutterable. It is the hallowed bliss of coming face to face with God and of experiencing the promise of the Revelator (Rev. 3:21), "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
However much we may desire an experience such as this, it is not brought about merely by our wishing for it; nor can anyone else give it to us. It must be earned. Through spiritual overcoming alone can we win the crown.
