Article January 19, 1918 Issue

Obedience and Healing

W. STUART BOOTH

The spiritual illumination shed by Christian Science upon the life of our Master shows us that in no thought, word, or act was he superficial. In each account of healing wrought by him, in addition to the proof and encouragement afforded thereby may be found inspiring lessons, discernible to all who, breaking away from the trammels of old theological and materialistic training, will look deeper through the clear lens of spiritual understanding.

The story of the healing of the ten lepers, of whom but one returned to give thanks, has always served to bestir appreciation and gratitude, but to the careful student yet other rich and helpful lessons are revealed. In nearly every case of healing wrought by Jesus it is to be noted that he bade the patient do something, and the healing which followed ready obedience to the command of wisdom must have been dependent thereupon. To the ten lepers he simply said, "Go shew yourselves unto the priests," and they obeyed without question, although the suggestion might easily have come to them to wait until they were healed before going to the priests; but no, we read that they obeyed the spiritual demand, and "as they went, they were cleansed."

It can be seen that these men might have delayed the realization of their healing by listening to the suggestions of doubt and fear, based on material sense testimony, which would have urged them to wait beside the road until the healing was made manifest before they went to the priests. Waiting beside the road had not brought them healing, and will never bring healing to anyone. We are told that when the children of Israel were facing the Red Sea the Lord said unto Moses, "Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." As the children of Israel were obedient to the divine voice speaking through Moses and bidding them go forward, they thus obtained their deliverance. Similarly, these ten were obedient to Christ Jesus, and "as they went, they were cleansed."

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Giving Wisely
January 19, 1918
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