Once upon a time there was a man who wanted to become a baker. He had always loved fresh-baked bread, and he thought he would enjoy baking it for others.

So he checked around town for the best location for a new business. He got a corner lot, hired the town contractor, and soon had his bakery ready to open, with gleaming stainless steel sinks and appliances in back, and shining glass cases in front to display his wares.

But things didn’t go too well for the baker. He worked long hours. He advertised every way he could think of. He tried his best to make a go of it. Yet he couldn’t seem to produce the kind of bread he had tasted in the past. When customers came by to see his new building, they seldom purchased any of his wares. And they never returned.

Finally, after years of struggling, he had to admit he was a failure. He was at the point of bankruptcy. He had tried everything he knew to make his bakery successful, and nothing had worked.

Just when he was ready to give it up completely, he heard about something that revolutionized his entire business. He learned that in order to make bread he needed flour! He hadn’t tried that before, but somehow it sounded good to him. And when he began using flour, it made all the difference.

Have you guessed that this is a parable? We would find it hard to believe that anyone could really overlook the simple, basic truth that it takes flour to make bread. We realize it would be tragic to try to run a bakery without it.

No matter what business you are in, you have to understand certain basic requirements if you ever hope to succeed. You can’t keep a bank going without money. You can’t run a railroad with only cabooses. It’s impossible to raise wool if you have no sheep.

But what about living the Christian life? How many of us have overlooked the basics for years?

Seeking for righteousness, but not knowing how to obtain it? And it is nothing but frustrating to try to be a Christian without understanding how to accomplish it.

The newsmen have certain leading questions they ask in order to get down to the basics of a news story. These questions can be transferred to the Christian life. The first is What? Sometimes it’s easiest to talk about the what of the Christian life. Some of us grew up on what.

What to do, and what not to do in order to be a Christian and in order to be saved. We had a pretty heavy diet of that. It led to discussions in academy Bible classes and weeks of prayer, asking what’s wrong with this, and what’s wrong with that?

Is it wrong to talk about what? No, the Bible contains much information about what. But what can never be the basis of Christianity.

Then there’s the question of Why? That’s the sophisticated, intellectual question. That’s where you analyze and dissect and discuss. That’s the best question to fill up time in the Sabbath School lesson study period. Why can be important. God says, “Come now, and let us reason together.” Isaiah 1:18. It’s not wrong to reason. We are born in God’s image, with the ability to think and consider. But why is not enough.

Another question we have spent a lot of time with in the history of our church is the question of

When? When is it all going to happen? And so we have the charts on the wall telling about when.

Perhaps some are so interested in the when because they are hoping to get on the last trolley out. But others worry that the when will catch up with them before they figure out how to do the what?

If you grew up on what and why and when, the next logical question is How? It’s a practical question, and it can lead you into the theory of righteousness by faith. If you don’t understand how, the rest will only frustrate you. But even knowing how is not enough, because righteousness by faith is more than a theory. It is an experience. And how becomes a most exciting question when you understand that the answer to how is who!

Jesus is the basis of Christianity. It is true the Bible talks about seeking righteousness. Zephaniah 2:3 says it in so many words, “Seek righteousness.” And some of us have thought that the way to seek Jesus is to seek righteousness. But we missed the how. Since Righteousness = Jesus, the way to seek righteousness is to seek Jesus.

“The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.“—Mount of Blessing, p. 18.