To be obedient is to do as one has been directed. A child learns to obey the directions of parents and teachers. And all people must eventually learn to be obedient to the laws of God, revealed in the Bible—such as the Ten Commandments.
Most of us don't learn readily the importance of obeying God's directions. For me, learning obedience to God began in an indirect way, though at the time I didn't realize it. I wasn't feeling well, so Mother called a Christian Science practitioner.
Practitioners do not give advice or direct us to do secular things. But they do direct us to turn to God, and they may occasionally make a suggestion that helps in this regard. The practitioner my mother called suggested that I play some hymns, perhaps with the thought that doing this would make it easier for me to keep my thought on God. At first I said I didn't feel like it! But the day wore on, and I still wasn't feeling well. Finally my mother pointed out the importance of obedience as a quality of thought and encouraged me to play the hymns even if at the moment I didn't feel like it. So I did. And the more I played and thought about the spiritual lessons contained in the hymns, the better I felt. Before I finished I was healed.
