In the writer's childhood home hung a plaque with two words engraved upon it in bold letters—GOD FIRST. How often through the years those words have served as a reminder of the demand which Christian Science makes upon its followers to attune thought constantly to the divine Mind, the source of all true harmony and beneficence, and to let spiritual sense be paramount in gauging and guiding human affairs! Often those words have also served as a rebuke when human will and a false sense of man as corporeal personality have led to unproductive and unprogressive circumstances.
If our efforts to reach some cherished goal have proven abortive, if we are undergoing an unstable and unsatisfying experience, we would be wise to search our hearts to determine whether we truly have been putting God first, whether we have been establishing in consciousness the primal fact of real being as taught in Christian Science and allowing it to become law in our lives. Mrs. Eddy writes, "For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence." Science and Health, p. 492;
To attain this standpoint requires much more than a superficial reading of the Lesson-Sermons in the Christian Science Quarterly or a perfunctory attendance at church services and lectures, no matter how consistent one may be in these duties. To put God first requires a humble consecration of thought, desire, and action that earnestly and continuously seeks and welcomes divine purpose for one's direction and correction. It requires joyous acceding to the intelligent will of Principle, which originates and substantiates its compound idea, man, in perfect harmony and order. To put God first requires one to surrender all trust in mere human outlining and personal ability and to recognize one's wisdom and ability as the inseparable outcome of his omnipotent Parent, Mind.
