While Reading this week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, titled "Mind," I was struck by the connection it makes between wisdom and obedience to God—specifically, how putting God first in our lives helps us to live wisely, and to understand God as the one Mind.

Section I begins: "And God spake all these words, saying, Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:1, 3, citation 1). In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy wrote that this commandment was her "favorite text" because it signifies that "all men shall have one Mind"—the basis for "the Science of being, by which man demonstrates health, holiness, and life eternal" (p. 340, cit. 1).

The Responsive Reading promises "length of days, and long life, and peace" to those who obey God's commands (Prov. 3:1, 2). Interestingly, the first nine chapters of Proverbs, from which the Responsive Reading is taken, emphasize the connection between obedience to God's laws and the ability to find wisdom. In fact, these chapters are the most explicit in all of Proverbs about such a connection. Bible scholars believe them to be the book's most recent addition. By placing these chapters first, the compilers of the book of Proverbs ensured that the readers began their study with the recognition that wisdom and understanding can be found by obeying God's laws.

Proverbs itself dates back to the post exilic period, sometime after 586 bc , during which the Jewish people had become focused on obeying Torah (God's laws). The Hebrews' God-centered concept of wisdom differed from the traditional teachings of the countries in which they lived as exiles—teachings whose rules and philosophical knowledge and teachings, though designed for a successful and meaningful life, were framed within a purely secular context.

The benefits of relying on God, rather than worldly wisdom, are highlighted in the Lesson's account of Daniel and his three friends (see Dan. chaps. 1, 2, cits. 11, 12). Because they worshipped the one God and obeyed His laws, they were given "knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom." When he prayed to God for wisdom to interpret the king's dreams, Daniel declared, "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his"—thus acknowledging God as the source of intelligence (Dan. 2:20, cit. 12). As a result, the king found that in "all matters of wisdom and understanding" Daniel and his friends were "ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers."

The book of Daniel shows how he let nothing deter him from worshipping the one God and obeying His commandments. In the same section, Science and Health confirms the wisdom of trusting God: "In proportion as the belief disappears that life and intelligence are in or of matter, the immortal facts of being are seen, and their only idea or intelligence is in God" (p. 279, cit. 12).

The Lesson also includes accounts in Jesus' healing ministry that demonstrated "health, holiness, and life eternal" (Science and Health, p. 340, cit. 1). For example, Mark's Gospel relates that Jesus healed many people suffering from "plagues" as well as "unclean spirits" or mental illness (3:7, 8, 10, 11, 22–27, cit. 7). Jesus also dramatically restored to "his right mind" the Gadarene man, "often bound with fetters and chains" (Mark 5:1–15, cit. 18).

Jesus declared, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt. 22:37, cit. 6). It's evident throughout the Gospels that his reliance on God alone enabled him to heal physical and mental illness. By obeying what he called the greatest commandment, Jesus was able to prove the truth behind Paul's words: "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (Golden Text, II Tim. 1:7). Science and Health references Paul's understanding of God as Mind: "The Apostle Paul bade men have the Mind that was in the Christ" (p. 79, cit. 22).

In Section IV we find the promise in Job that "thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning" (11:17, cit. 15). And Science and Health addresses diminishing mental capacity, conventionally associated with aging, with such reassurances as, "No faculty of Mind is lost," and "Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness" (p. 407, cit. 18; p. 246, cit.21).

The Lesson's ideas about obedience and wisdom come full circle in the last Bible citation with Isaiah's assurance that God will "keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on [Him]: because he trusteth in [Him]" (Isa. 26:3, cit. 22).

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