Discipleship is strengthening and expansive. "Go ye into all the world," Christ Jesus said to his followers, "and preach the gospel to every creature." At another time he had told them, "Heal the sick,...cast out devils." This vision of discipleship shines away aimlessness and parochialism. It is practical, as Jesus' immediate followers proved. 'And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." Mark 16:15; Matt. 10:8; Mark 16:20.
Don't the Master's commands help clarify and unlimit our own purpose today? Every undertaking, whether ordinary or urgent, can be seen as an occasion to practice discipleship, to let our lives bear witness to the healing power of Christ, Truth. It can be seen as an occasion to learn how to forsake the unprofitable flesh for the quickening Spirit. This learning unfolds salvation. It brings out true, joyful views of man as God's child, the reflection of Spirit. This true view of identity elevates our lives. It turns us toward responding to our own and others' needs from a spiritual basis, from a perception of man and the universe as ever provided for and governed by divine Principle, Love.
Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount describes the love for God and man that characterizes discipleship. A reliable support for this active discipleship—for working out man's unbroken relation to God—is an awareness of divine Love's infinite motherhood. As we keep close to the fact that God is Father-Mother, we accept more readily the naturalness of salvation. We see, for example, that because God is eternally loving and all-wise, He does not condemn His children. True motherhood corrects and nurtures. It continuously guides into ways of spiritual progress. Thus no one and no situation is, in truth, past redemption. Nor is any child of God nameless or unimportant. Each is known and esteemed by the creator.
