What in the World are You Doing?

As a child I occasionally got into trouble (well, that did happen more than I want to admit), but one time I remember my father saying to me, “What in the world are you doing?”  Of course, I had to fess up to the predicament in which I found myself and receive the consequences of my action.  As I think back to that question, I believe it is a good question for all of us to think about – not because we have been in trouble, but because we need to think about our existence.  What in the world am I doing?  Why has God allowed me to live in this Century?  What does God want to accomplish through me?  When the Apostle Paul made a defense before King Agrippa, he rehearsed his experience of getting to know God personally.  Here is what the Lord said to him, “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” (Acts 26:17-18).

 Notice several specifics about these verses:

 1)      Sending Agent.  “I am sending you.”  God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, has a task to accomplish and He works through people to get His work done.

2)      Specific Mission.  “To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.”  God’s purpose is that people will turn from the darkness of sin to the brightness of eternal life in Christ.

3)      Sustaining Power. “From the power of Satan to God.” It is God’s divine power (not Satan’s power) that is at work through individuals so His purpose can be fulfilled.

4)      Systematic Cleansing.   “They may receive forgiveness of sins.” God wants people to be spiritually clean by having their sins forgiven and that comes only because of Christ’s death on the cross.

5)      Sacred Confidence.  “A place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Through faith in God, a person has confident assurance that God has done a new work in his or her life.

If you read the rest of the book of Acts and the Epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote you will find him doing the things that this verse suggests.  It seems to me that this is the same activity that all people who call themselves Christians should be doing.  We should share the Gospel with people so their eyes can be opened to the Savior, so they can turn from the darkness of sin to God’s wonderful light, so they can receive forgiveness of sin, and so they can be sanctified through faith in Christ.

So, the question remains for all of us: “What in the world am I doing?”  What are you doing personally?  What are you doing familywise?  What are you doing in your community?  I trust that your answer and action to these questions are the same as that of the Apostle Paul.