Who are you Lord? Acts 22:8 (NIV).

Blogger and author, Leo Babauta, said, “The questions we ask of ourselves determine the type of people we become.” I believe that’s true.

In Acts 22:1-21 the Apostle Paul/Saul asks two essential questions, which, if you read about the life of Paul, determined who he became.  The first question is, “Who are you, Lord?” Acts 22:8 (NIV). Have you asked that question? I asked that question through the course of my childhood and teenage years and two weeks before my 19th birthday discovered the answer … an answer that radically and forever changed my life.

“Who are you ,Lord?” When Paul asked the question the answer was “I am Jesus of Nazareth …” When I asked the question I discovered that Jesus Christ is my Creator, Saviour, Truth and Life. He and He alone is the One who rescues me from sin, reconciles me to God the Father, fills me with His Spirit, gives me abundant life, and guarantees resurrection from death with eternal life to come. That’s BIG … that’s HUGE! When you ask, “Who are you Lord?”, and then discover the answer, everything changes … for me, it was like going from the darkness into the light … from being blind to being able to see!

The second essential question that Paul asks is, “What should I do, Lord?” Acts 22:10 (NIV). The order of the questions is important. Before we can ask the Lord what we should do, we must ask Him who He is. Relationship comes first. Work follows. Once you know Christ, you’re set to serve Christ. You can’t serve Christ if you don’t know Him.

“What should I do, Lord?” The answer God gave to Paul was very simple. First, he was to go to Damascus (Acts 22:10). Second, he was to be God’s witness, telling everyone what he had seen and heard (Acts 2:15). And third, he was to be baptized, have his sins washed away and to call on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16).

Since coming to Christ as my Saviour and Lord I’ve asked, “What should I do, Lord?” not once, but countless times through the course of the nearly 4 decades that I’ve been a Christian. God, through His Word, has given me all encompassing big picture answers like, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).  And “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV). And my life verse Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (NIV).

And there have also been very specific answers from the Scriptures like the confirmation my sweetheart and I received that we should be married, his plan for us to have three children, the way we were directed to come and serve as missionaries in Canada, the word from God to plant a church in Orillia, and many more …

“Who are you, Lord?” and “What should I do, Lord?” are life defining questions. What are the questions defining your life?