09/04/2026
THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM!
My steering wheel on my riding lawn mower was acting up this past Friday, so I took it apart to see what was wrong with it. Best that I could determine, it needed a new steering gear. So, I took the old gear off the steering shaft and took it to my local lawn mower repair shop. I handed the gear to the guy behind the parts counter and asked, “Do you guys stock this part?” The parts guy inspected the part for about 15 seconds and replied, “Yes, we do … but this is not what you need … THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM. Just looking at this part I can tell what your real problem is.” He proceeded to tell me about another part that the steering shaft fits through directly above the steering gear. He went and got the part and showed it to me. “This is what you need right here,” he said confidently. “I’ll still sell you a new steering gear if you want it, but that won’t fix your problem. This little $8 part is what you need … I’m positive about it!”
He said it with such confidence and assurance that I knew he had to be right. After all, he’s seen hundreds of these issues in his years as a parts professional. I THOUGHT I knew what the problem was … He KNEW what the problem was. I took the part home with me, installed it on my lawnmower and the steering wheel worked like a charm!
In our world today, there are so many voices telling us what the root problems are in our society and culture. As I was in a discussion about a recent court case that made national headlines, several remedies were suggested as to how to fix the problem involved in the case. I didn’t put my two cents worth in because others seemed very adamant that they had discovered the problem that needed to be fixed. “Our government is the problem,” “A lack of mental health care is the problem,” “Marital issues is the problem,” “Societal pressures is the problem,” … I heard a lot of options about the root cause. All the while I was thinking within myself, “SIN IS THE PROBLEM.”
Whether we want to admit it or not, the root cause for every problem in our society is SIN. As a matter of fact, it is such a problem that God had to do something EXTREME to fix the problem. HE SENT HIS ONLY SON TO DIE FOR OUR SINS … thus cleansing us from the guilt of sin that we carried. Yet, even though He paid the price for our sin, SIN still exists in this world. Not until Satan is permanently cast into the lake of fire forever will we be totally free from the repercussions of sin, but for now, the penalty for SIN has been paid … by an innocent party … by Jesus Christ … the one who loved us so much that He laid down His life to fix THE REAL PROBLEM.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of SIN is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
James 1:14-15
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to SIN; and SIN, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
