Obedience seems to be an extremely unpopular word these days. Even some who believe in God don't want to follow His laws. They want to do what they want. A young person may feel that the act of obedience to the Ten Commandments, let's say, takes away his freedom and forces him to conform to useless, archaic standards.

Are personal preferences really a safe guide to a happy life? Paul didn't think so. He said, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" ^{Rom. 6:16;}

When I was going to college a couple of years ago, I believed in God as divine Principle, the very source and cause of existence. But I found it hard to obey the standards of Principle. I'd been raised in Christian Science, but none of the explanations as to why I shouldn't drink alcohol or try a medical remedy seemed to make any sense. I found it equally hard to justify getting up on Sunday morning to attend church.

My past Sunday School training seemed unrelated to life. "How could people who lived two thousand years ago affect me today?" was my argument against further study in Christian Science.

For a while I was very sure I was getting everything out of life I should. But soon I hit some stumbling blocks that made every day an uphill battle. Worries and feelings of guilt ruled my consciousness.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless woes, turn us like tired children to the arms of divine Love. Then we begin to learn Life in divine Science." ^{Science and Health, p. 322;} And that's just what happened to me.

I began to search the Bible and Science and Health for a better understanding of God's laws. I wanted something better than a sinning and sorrowful life that could not be depended upon for any consistent peace.

It became clear that obedience to God is not confining. It brings the blessing that Christ Jesus referred to when he said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ^{Matt. 6:33;}

Mrs. Eddy gets very specific when she talks about obedience. In one place she writes: "Obeying the divine Principle which you profess to understand and love, demonstrates Truth. 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.' " Further on she continues, "Obedience is the offspring of Love; and Love is the Principle of unity, the basis of all right thinking and acting; it fulfils the law." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 116-117.}

The rough road I'd been traveling smoothed out suddenly, and I experienced greater peace than I had ever known before. There were no more feelings of guilt and despair because now I was living a life controlled by Principle, a life that human will couldn't push around. When I looked to God instead of alcohol and medicine, I didn't find my social life dwindling or my health in jeopardy, as I had previously feared. Instead, I found honest, permanent friendships. And a nervous problem I'd had no longer laid claim to me.

The greatest joy came in the realization that because I had corrected my life I would not any longer have to pay a penalty or be punished further for my wanderings. Returning to regular church attendance made me feel as good as the prodigal returning to his father's house.

Man's true nature is one of obedience—obedience to the law of perfect Love. After all, man is God's own image. Being spiritual and perfect, he never wanders, and has no penalty to pay before divine Love will care for him. The truth is simply that man has never been separated from God, and could never be disobedient to the law of God. We need to eliminate the false belief that we have a mind and a will apart from God and bring our actions into line with Truth.

In learning to be obedient we have this perfect starting point: Man is already all right, so far as God is concerned. We don't have to change reality, just line up to it.

The doors of the Father's house are open wide, and with eternal patience He waits to welcome us. Now is the time to turn to the Father to experience perfect peace. We don't have to contend against some mighty enemy but merely a false belief that our way is better than God's way. This belief will flee as we oppose it and side with Principle.