Jesus Is the Answer—Part 1
By Rev. Joseph Parker
The title of the well-loved classic song by Andraé Crouch is accurate. “Jesus Christ is the Answer” to the longings of the human heart. Receiving Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives is the key to a real and meaningful life. It has always been and will always be true. Jesus Christ stands as the answer to all the world’s problems and He is the answer to the emptiness in the hearts of people all over the world.
The story is told of a man who, when the draft was active, got drafted into the army. After being drafted, he picked up this very strange habit. He would walk around the barracks, inside the barracks, and outside, with a piece of paper. He would pick it up, read it, and say out loud, “That’s not it!” Every piece of paper of any kind that he came across, he would pick it up, read it, and say, “That’s not it! That’s just not it!”
After a few weeks of carrying out this strange habit, the company commander called him into his office and asked, “Private, what’s your problem?” The young soldier responded, “Sir, I don’t have a problem.” The commander then asked, “Well, what is it that you are looking for when you are looking at all these pieces of paper and reading them?’
“Well, sir, I don’t know what I’m looking for, but every time I find and read the pieces of paper I come across, I realize that that is not what I’m looking for,” the private replied. The company commander questioned him a little further and let him leave.
The young private continued his strange habit for a few more weeks; and finally, the commander had had enough. He called the young soldier into his office. He said, “Son, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to let you go. The army can’t afford to keep soldiers like you. If we had an army full of soldiers like you, we’d have a messed-up army. We’re just going to have to let you go!” The commander pulled out of his drawer some papers that said, “Discharge” across the top, signed them, and handed them to the young man. The soldier took one look at the papers and then yelled at the top of his lungs, “That’s it! That’s it!” The moment he read those papers that said he could get out of the army, he realized that was what he had been looking for all this time.
The Rev. Joseph Parker is the pastor of Bethlehem AME Church in Winona, Mississippi. He is the author of The Intercession Chronicles, a Christian novel and an evangelism and discipleship tool.
