Who are you, Lord?

     In Acts 26:15-21(NIV), Paul (Saul), who formally persecuted the Christians as a Jewish Pharisee, is making his case against the Jews, who are now persecuting him, to the Roman King Agrippa:

"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' [to the voice in the bright light speaking to Paul on the road to Damascus]

"'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' 

"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven...I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me."

    This short section of scripture tells me a lot about who the Lord is: forgiving, patient, kind, good, and just. He took Paul, the worst of sinners (in his own words in 1 Timothy 15) and made him one of his greatest witnesses. But the Lord also used Paul to bring the Jews to Him because Paul knew Jewish law better than most, yet even with his knowledge, most Jews would not listen to him. So the Lord then sent Paul to the Gentiles, to preach and teach, and many came to know the Lord and were saved from "darkness to light," and "from the power of Satan to God." 

    If the Lord is willing to use Saul, renamed as Paul (meaning small or humble), He is willing to use any of us to teach others about Him. But we must "humble" ourselves, make ourselves "small" and make Jesus "big" in the eyes of others. For a society set on taking "selfies" and videos of our accomplishments or our possessions, etc. that can be a daunting task to release our piece of the proverbial pie and let God be our focus and take center stage in our lives. 

    So, what would be your answer to the question from Paul, "Who are you, Lord?" Who is Jesus in your life? Who are you to Jesus? Do you two have a relationship? Or are you just acquaintances? Possibly even strangers? It doesn't take a journey on the road to Damascus to repair your relationship with Christ Jesus today. Simply start by humbling yourself before God, ask Him to forgive your sins and tell Him you believe in His Son, you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and that He rose again three days later and is alive and interceding on your behalf at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). 

Romans 8:34 (NIV) Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.