Obedience to God

Ella W. Hoag

Obedience to God has not yet been accepted by all men as the highest of privileges. Comparatively few yet realize that such obedience is the open door to all that is rich and desirable, to all that is pure and holy, to all that results in greatest and incomparable blessing. Neither does mankind yet realize that this obedience must be without taint of personal desire, if it is to be acceptable to God. It must also be quick and intelligent, if right results are readily to accrue.

Now Christian Science reveals the absolute truth that man as the image and likeness of God has no power to express less than perfect obedience to his Maker. Since he is the complete and perfect reflection of God, he can know no will or control except that which is in and of divine Mind. Mortals, however, have the task of learning to obey God, divine Principle, of bringing every thought into subjection to Truth and Love, before the spontaneous reflection of good can be realized. They therefore must avail themselves of all the helps divine Mind has provided, that they may learn to understand the exact nature of true obedience and the way in which to gain dominion over the beliefs of the so-called human will.

Since Jesus is our Way-shower from the beliefs of the flesh into the realization of Spirit, we naturally turn to his precepts and to his own demonstration of them to find the way to true obedience. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 (p. 11) Mrs. Eddy writes, "To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice." There is no question but that Jesus obeyed implicitly every statement he had himself laid down in this sermon. No precept contained therein was too difficult for him to obey; no demand which it makes was too strong for his complete acceptance. He not only obeyed the commands contained therein, but he also accepted and proved that the precious promises which accompany those commands were his in rich fulfillment. The covenants which God had made in the Beatitudes, for instance, were more than promises to him, for he proved them to be the very law of his being.

How was it possible for Jesus to render such unselfed obedience in his every word and thought and deed? One great secret of this ability is surely found in his own words: "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." So great was his love for God that obedience must always have been to him not only an inestimable privilege but a wondrous joy. Approaching obedience from this standpoint, Jesus could not fail to realize that in thus obeying he inevitably pleased the Father. There was, therefore, with his every act of obedience the consciousness of God's precious approval.

In this obedience which Jesus invariably rendered to the Father, there always appeared the beautiful simplicity which renders alert obedience so exquisite a thing to look upon. Jesus himself tells us that no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven except he become as a little child. There must be, therefore, in the consciousness of each individual who desires to render true obedience to God that devoted love for good which embraces the childlike ability to obey quickly and whole-heartedly. There must also be that understanding of and love for God's gracious, all-satisfying demands which makes obedience to them a glorious privilege. Such obedience as this cannot fail to be accompanied with the consciousness that one has pleased his Father-Mother God.

As Christian Scientists start out on the happy road of obedience to God, they realize that their textbooks mark out the path they are to tread. These holy books are filled with precepts and their explanations, as well as with many a definition of obedience itself and its unfailing law of rich reward. The Scientist also recognizes that obedience to God not only brings all good, but protects from all evil. How plainly, then, must we see that no one can live obedient to God's commands and not at the same time be guarded against that disobedience which can result only in disappointment and dismay. Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 183), "Submission to error superinduces loss of power;" and she precedes this with the statement, "Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength."

Ella W. Hoag

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