THE BIBLE'S ACCOUNTS of Jesus's temptation in the wilderness include no indication that the tempter-described as Satan-found the slightest acceptance in the Master's thought. True, the temptation to betray his God-ordained mission came to Jesus a second and a third time. But Jesus immediately and unequivocally rejected all three.

When the third temptation came in the form of a blatant invitation to break the First Commandment, Jesus responded, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Then the devil left him, and "angels came and ministered unto him" (Matt.4:10,11).

How could the Master so readily resist temptation? Perhaps because he was consistently conscious of his own identity as the Son of God. There was no trait or quality in him to be influenced by deceitful persuasion. Jesus refused the notion that a material kingdom and temporal power could add one whit to the God-given dominion he already possessed.

In discovering the Science of Christianity, Mary Baker Eddy came to the conclusion that Jesus' healing works were rooted in his utter acceptance of God's allness and goodness and his own inclusion in that allness and goodness as the Son of God. And, because he saw everyone as the sons and daughters of God, he was able to claim completeness or wholeness for those he met. This resulted in the healing of sickness, sin, and even death.

I had an experience recently that awakened me to my own ability to resist temptation.

I had gone to the local store to pick up some birdseed. The clerk was waiting on another customer, so, as I often do, I asked for the key to the storage trailer outside. I unlocked the padlock and picked up three bags of birdseed. I was about to carry them to my car before going back into the store to pay for them, when it occurred to me how easy it would be to pick up an extra bag or two, deposit them in my car, and then pay for only three. The store operated on the honor system, and the clerk would be none the wiser.

But simultaneously, I was absolutely certain that I would do no such thing. My rejection of the temptation was instantaneous. No struggle, no argument. Why did the suggestion have no power over me? Because again, I was absolutely certain that I was honest, so a dishonest act had not the slightest appeal for me.

My refusal to make off with a couple of $5.95 bags of birdseed was no big deal. But as I stood there recognizing the total powerlessness of that suggestion, I suddenly saw that there were much larger ramifications to the ease with which I had instantly resisted it: as the complete, whole reflection of my Maker, I must have the same ability to resist anything unlike Him, not just dishonesty.

I had the same right to reject the temptation to lose my temper, to be sick, or to believe in laws of contagious disease. I had the right to refuse to see the other driver in traffic as rude, to yield to a lustful impulse, to believe I could lack any good, even to fear death. Any of these suggestions, I realized, were as foreign to my nature as they were to God's. They were no part of Him and therefore no part of me as His image and likeness. I could expect to reject them with the same authority I had demonstrated so effortlessly and instantly over the impotent suggestion that I steal.

As the image and likeness of Mind, I include not only honesty but purity, self-control,integrity, kindness, courage, intelligence, stamina, agelessness, compassion. These qualities were just as much a part of my spiritual identity as was the honesty I so automatically recognized. They were all mine to claim as my spiritual birthright from my Father-Mother God.

This experience has given me a firmer grip on my spiritual identity. That glimpse of why the Master could put satanic suggestions behind him so authoritatively has been a "very present help" in responding to various temptations.

God is all-knowing so no other knowing is going on. There is no satanic mind out there with the power to corrupt us. So, if resisting temptation seems to be a struggle sometimes, isn't it simply because we are believing that there is more than one God, more than one Mind?

Each suggestion that there is a deluding power called Satan, or that there is a deluded mind called "me" that can respond to evil, can be dismissed. As God's offspring, we have the right the authority, to know ourselves as He knows us-His pure, perfect, sinless, indestructible, and individually complete expression.