Article October 12, 1940 Issue

Willing and Obedient

CLIFFORD W. HOLLEBAUGH

The Bible contains many inspiring promises. The careful student observes that promises of progress and salvation carry with them certain conditions precedent to fulfillment. In the comforting promise given in Isaiah, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land," it will be perceived that the realization of supply, happiness, and security follows upon the seeker's willingness and obedience.

No doubt many who have found comfort in this promise have not experienced the expected fruitage. One reason for this may be an insufficient understanding of the condition. If, for instance, the student entertains a sense of determination, personal ambition, or the exercise of mortal will power, rather than the spiritual qualities of humility, receptivity, and readiness for spiritual unfoldment, he has not grasped one of the primary conditions necessary to obtain the promised results. Again, if it be conceived that the promise relates solely to the possession or enjoyment of material abundance, the fulfillment is not realized, for the real need is not discerned. A false concept of obedience may be the stumbling block to realization of the fulfillment of the promise.

The willingness, or readiness, that confides and trusts all to God, divine Principle, coupled with true obedience, brings sure spiritual unfoldment of supply. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has written (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 116), "Never absent from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God,—is obedience; being 'faithful over a few things.'"

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