Article October 9, 1978 Issue

Take up the cross and follow Christ

YOSHIKAZU HOSHIMI

A rich young man once came to Jesus and asked what he should do to inherit eternal life. Learning that the young man had kept the Commandments from his youth, Christ Jesus lovingly replied, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."^{Mark 10:21;} But the young man was sad and went away.

Today, there are many people like this rich young man. They go to church, read the Bible, pray, and then they ask, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus' admonition for them would be the same, and just as the young man who did not feel able to obey the Master's admonition, so they too would probably say, "I cannot do that." And they might go on to ask, "Why is it necessary to be willing to sell all material things and to take up the cross in order to inherit eternal life?" Christian Science provides the answer.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, "To have one God and avail yourself of the power of Spirit, you must love God supremely." She continues farther on: "It is not wise to take a halting and half-way position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and error. There is but one way—namely, God and His idea—which leads to spiritual being." And she ends the paragraph, "Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized."^{Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 167;}