IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON January 11, 2010 Issue

LIVING OUT THE INSPIRED WORD

GENELLE AUSTIN-LETT

"AS ADHERENTS of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." That statement by Mary Baker Eddy lays the foundation for this week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, titled "Life" (Science and Health, p. 497, citation 2).

Another supporting thread is the theme of bread. Is the bread of life food and finances? Or is it the Word of God, the Christ, Truth, that breathes, corrects, and instructs us in how to live life (see II Tim. 3:16, cit. 1)? The Lesson points to a striking dichotomy over how life is viewed.

From the Golden Text right through to the sixth section, we learn that the Bible nourishes us and sustains us: "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live" (Deut. 8:3, Golden Text). This verse was Jesus' defense against the devil when the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread. Jesus relied on Scripture for survival.