"give fearlessly"

[spencel]

“I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman.” II Kings 5

This weekend I read the following lines in, 1937 College by Bicknell Young:

“The Christian Scientist who perceives this true substance can give fearlessly to his church or to his business, having learned the difference between giving and giving away, using and using up.
There is no material law of supply and demand in Mind; there is nothing but supply.”

In 2 Kings Gehazi the servant of Elisha, disobeys and runs after Naaman, to collect some of his riches that Elisha had refused to accept. When tempted to feel limited, I ask myself, what do I “run after,” to “take somewhat,” instead of trusting God to provide. Am I operating from “giving and using” or “giving away and using up?”
I grateful to be correctly learning a Scientific sense of abundance here at Plainfield.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Christ Jesus, (Matthew 6)

[JPalmer]

Thank you for this post!

On page 36 of the Addenda in Collectanea, there is an article called, “The Symbol Called a Quarter” which, in part, states the following:

If it dwells in Mind, as every idea must, then Mind fills it with limitless, in­finite value, and, humanly speaking, I cannot grasp or conceive of its possibilities to meet every need, neither can I set any value – finite value – on it, for counting money in so many dollars and cents is simply one of the attempts of human thought to control a quality of Mind and circumscribe it into the finiteness of human reason. This literally takes the quarter out of the realm of reality – it ceases to be an idea of substance and naturally becomes a form of nothingness that fails in usefulness and disappears. On the other hand, to “multiply” it, all human estimation and value must be set aside, and the substance, universal substance of limitless Spirit that the tiniest symbol represents, must be recognized, and then you have connected up mentally with the limitless idea and need do no more.

This helps me to see that both Elijah and Elisha knew they had all they could ever want or need, because they knew God to be the infinite source. Perhaps humanly they looked poor, yet spiritually, they were “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) and therefore were ready to bless everyone they encountered.

It seems once Gehazi felt he needed “more” than God provided, he opened himself to the multiplication of things considered humanly good and also humanly bad. This reminds me of Romans 6:16 “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?”

The article above ends with this:

Lack is not a curse, for there is a blessing in it when we see that it actually teaches us to turn away from the finite symbol, and grasp the endless possibilities, capabilities, and riches contained in the idea typified by the symbol when it is rightfully understood. So lack in that way is a blessing in disguise, for Love reverses it and Spirit brings its ever-present substance into manifestation to meet the human need.

What a powerful lesson! I am so grateful for all this church offers! Thank you!

[MaryBeth]

Thank you for these posts. Very good points. Infinite supply comes only with true acknowledgement that God is it’s source and this supply must be freely shared with others, as God would direct. We (in belief) create our own limitations.

[Author]

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