Article December 6, 1941 Issue

Laying Our "earthly all"

FRANCES MC G. ANDERSON

"That Jesus was tempted in all points, yet remained without sin, sets a standard that is without equal for all mankind. "If any man will come after me," said Jesus, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The interpretation of this statement has been given to us by Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," where she says (p. 55), "The time for the reappearing of the divine healing is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ's cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of Christian healing." To understand how to carry out this divine command, the example of our great Master should be thoughtfully studied.

The Gospels record the life of Jesus in varying lights, but each shows clearly the unvarying quality of his righteousness and the simplicity of his teaching. His lifework was a continuing proof of the statement in Genesis that "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." He saw this perfect man of God's creating as the only real man, and this enabled him to cast out sin, sickness, and death. In his holding to the spiritual fact of man's perfection as the image and likeness of God, Jesus proved his divine sonship, and so fulfilled his mission as our Exemplar.

One of the first steps to be taken in following Jesus may be considered to be the overcoming of self-love, whether it is manifested in the pursuit of money, place, or power. We are told that after Jesus had wrestled in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights he was afterward "tempted of the devil." On page 597 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy had defined "wilderness" in part as "spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence." Fortified by his communion with his heavenly Father, Jesus was able to turn his back on the three suggestions of Satan and to renounce any part in a material kingdom. How quickly evil vanished when he put it behind him! It is possible today, as in the time of Jesus, to deny vigorously the power of evil, no matter what its form. If the struggle seems severe and the temptation alluring, there is sturdy reinforcement in Mrs. Eddy's counsel in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 118), "Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you,—and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory"

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