WHO AM I?

If someone were to ask your friends or neighbors, concerning you, "Who is
that?" what kind of response do you think they would give? Is it even
important what others think when they look at you?

I read an interesting illustration by Stephen Sizer that went something like
this: One day in a hospital waiting room there were many people waiting to
see a doctor. One man who was convinced of his own importance was getting
impatient. Unwilling to wait any longer, he barged in to the nurses station
and demanded to be seen by the doctor. "Don't you know who I am?" shouted
the man. The receptionist calmly pressed the button on the microphone of her
loudspeaker system and asked the waiting patients. "I have a gentleman here
who doesn't know who he is. Can someone please assist him in finding out?
Thank you."

If you were to go around asking your friends, "What do people say about me?"
Or "Who do you say I am?" they might just think you were crazy. But for the
sake of our considering this thought, just what how would you like people to
respond to that question about you? Would they say, "Yes, I know them" or "I
don't have a clue".

Does your life touch the lives of others; do you make a difference by caring
and sharing the love of Christ with others? Do you speak with people you may
not know well, or even at all? How about calling on the telephone, just to
see how someone is doing who you missed seeing. What about taking time to
send a card or note to say, I care about you.

You see, really what I am suggesting is that we need to live our lives in
such a way, that folks can see Jesus living in us.

Where am I coming from with these thoughts? In Mark 8:27-29 we read of a
conversation Jesus had with his disciples. Notice what took place: "Jesus
and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea
Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, "Who do people say I
am?" "Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and
others say you are one of the other prophets." Then he asked them, "But who
do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah." (NLT)

Those who walked with Christ, his friends and disciples had no problem
identifying Jesus as the Messiah by what they saw of his life, did they? Now
here is the point I'm trying to make. Someday people may answer the question
about just who Christ is, based upon what they have seen in our lives, what
do you think they will say?

The question of, 'Who I am" is perhaps deeper than we would like to admit.
It speaks not of just our nationality, our heritage, our age or our job. It
speaks of what motivates us and affects our relationship with those we
encounter everyday.

I guess I had better start thinking more on what my life looks like to
others, what about you?

Russ Lawson