Up first on the list is a very simple question: who are you?

Do you realize that God knew you before you were formed?

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

— Jeremiah 1:5

God told this to his prophet Jeremiah: I knew you before you were formed in the belly.

King David, a man after God’s own heart, knew this…

By thee I have been holden up from the womb; thou art He that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.

— Psalm 71:6

The apostle Paul knew this…

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace,

— Galatians 1:15

Listen closely as God speaks…

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, behold I have given you ever herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

— Genesis 1:27-30

Did you catch that? We are created in the very image of God!

What does that tell us about God?

He has eyes to see and ears to hear. He has likes and dislikes. He has feelings.

We are so small and insignificant. Did you ever wonder why the great God of all even cares about us?

As David, a man after God’s own heart, looked at the nighttime skies, he wondered this…

Oh Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

— Psalm 8

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

— Psalm 33:6-9

Yet God’s word is only six chapters old and look what it says about man…

And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart.

— Genesis 6:6

It repented God and grieved him that he had made man.

Why?

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of his heart was only evil continually.

— Genesis 6:5

God was upset, because He who knows all knew that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.

That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Not much has changed.

Now think about yourself. Whoever you are matters not. You are made in the very image of God. With eyes. With ears. With likes. With dislikes. With feelings. With emotions.

We are made in His image. Moses of old wanted to know who he was and he asked God….

And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel our of Egypt?

— Exodus 3:11

Do you and I understand how valuable we are to God? You want to know your value to God, who you are?

And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

— Genesis 2:7

How valuable are you to God? Jesus, God’s son says…

For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

— Mark 8:36-37

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

— Matthew 16:26

The whole world.

What an awesome thought: that inside of you is something more valuable than the whole world. God gave it to you. It’s your soul. And we treat it with such disregard and carelessness so many times, don’t we?

How many times have you sung the song “Where the Soul of Man Never Dies” only to sing the words, hit the notes, but not consider who you are as a child of God’s?

To Canaan’s land I’m on my way
Where the soul of man never dies

My darkest night will turn to day
Where the soul of man never dies

A rose is blooming there for me
Where the soul of man never dies

And I will spend eternity
Where the soul of man never dies

No sad farewells
No tear dimmed eyes

Where all is peace and joy and love
And the soul of man never dies

How valuable are you? God gave His son to die for you.

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

— John 3:16

You are a special person to God.

For thou are an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

— Deuteronomy 7:6

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

— Deuteronomy 14:2

So then, what does God require of you and me?

And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord they God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

— Deuteronomy 10:12

In exchange, God gave you life. He gives you talent, food, shelter, family, friends, and his word, the Bible. He tells us how much he loves us. How he sustains us each day. How he cares for us at all times. He gave us promises that are sure to be enacted if we live faithfully to him while here below. Eternal life with him. Peace. Joy. Love. He gave us instructions that we so many times ignore: his word, his instructions…the Bible.

Don’t know who said it, but I love it and it’s true, so very true. The bible is Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. B I B L E!!

So guess what? Even if you live to be 100+, you simply aren’t here for very long to do what God wants you to do for Him while here below.

Who are you? In view of the short span of life, God’s word describes who we are in many scriptures.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.

— 2 Samuel 14:14

You are as water spilt.

Is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth? Are not his days also like the days of an hireling? As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work; so am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and become loathsome. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. I remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.

— Job 7:1-7

My life is swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. It’s wind. Our life is spent without hope according to Job.

As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

— Job 7:9-10

For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow.

— Job 8:9

A shadow.

Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

— Job 14:1

Of few days. Full of trouble.

King David spoke of what God remembers about us:

For he remembereth that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

— Psalm 78:39

Flesh. A wind that passes away.

As we consider who we are, as we consider our reliance on and devotion to God, as we examine ourselves we are compelled to think as David, the man after God’s own heart did…

Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold thou hast made my days as a handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.

— Psalm 39:4-7

Our hope is in God. Without God we are nothing. Without God we have nothing. Without God we become nothing.

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

— Psalm 90:9-10

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

— Psalm 90:12

Is that who we are? A tale that is told? Is that the way we live our lives and when the story ends, that’s it?

Many live that way. The story of their life is told and then they’re gone.

It’s fascinating to read the story of people’s lives in the obituary columns of the newspaper or online. Reading memorials that others post about the stories they remember of the deceased one. The happiness. What a good person he or she was. The obit tells the story of their life.

But the true story is the one not talked about by man, but one that is lived in true devotion, honoring God daily in lives and actions, obeying Him in all ways.

The true story is who you are to God after all is said and done, based on God’s requirements and the actions and deeds done in your life; not what man says.

So who are you? It’s real simple. If you are a true Christian, you live your life according to God’s word.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

— 1 Peter 2:9

Jesus says you are salt and light. You are the light of the world. You are a city set on a hill.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.

— Matthew 5:13-16

Examine yourself right now reading this. Are you salt and light for God?

So many times we miss the wonderful pictures drawn by God that give us reason for maintaining our hope for better things when this life ends. Many are breathtaking. Refreshing. Overwhelming.

Consider:

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

— Isaiah 64:4

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas sayeth unto him, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the father but by me.”

— John 14:1-6

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:35-39

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

— I Corinthians 3:16-17

You are the temple of God with one power that leads only two ways. It’s called the power of choice, leading to eternal life or eternal death!

Examine yourself.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

— 2 Corinthians 13:5

Who Are You?