Editorial May 27, 1911 Issue

TRUE POSSESSIONS

John B. Willis

In counseling the rich young man to sell all that he had and give the proceeds to the poor, in order that he might "have treasure in heaven," Christ Jesus uncovered one of the most subtle temptations to which professed Christian are subject. He brought home to the young man a truth which we all need to remember, namely, that the possession of any "abundance" which is not the reward of practical reliance upon God tends to lessen one's impelling sense of the need of such reliance, and thus proves the occasion of his actual impoverishment.

Mortal belief would not only keep us absorbed in the, effort to provide against the necessity of exercising any vital faith, but it would have us accept the conclusion that commercial cleverness is the one course by which the promised abundance can be secured. It would have us regard earthly means as the divinely appointed agency for the supply of all human want, and when one awakens to this seduction he begins to understand the meaning of Jesus' words, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God."

Despite the hazard to faith, however, involved in the possession of wealth, it is to be remembered that "an hundredfold" is promised "now in this time" to those who are loyal to God and generous in their giving in Christ's name. This certainly argues for the legitimacy and desirability of all that contributes to wholesome human living, and many have found it difficult to harmonize this fact of the spiritual handicap pertaining to a supply for our wants with the Master's assurances that such supply is to become ours as the reward of right doing. This difficulty disappears, however, when it is seen that a truly Christian man can have no interest in money for its possession's sake, but only because of its serviceability for good. To such an one "houses and lands" are but symbols of indebtedness to God and of opportunity for God. He regards himself simply as an almoner of that divine bounty which, as Mrs. Eddy reminds us, meets "every human need" (Science and Health, p. 494). To seek first "the kingdom of heaven" that we may advance our earthly interests would be base, but to seek "the kingdom of heaven" for its own sake is to prove worthy of and win its every blessing.

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