Saul asked this question as soon as he got the answer to his previous question: “Who are you, Lord?” (Acts 22:8). The answer was: “I am Jesus of Nazareth.”
If you know for sure that the person with whom you had an encounter in life is Jesus, then the next question to ask is: “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Saul asked this question. He got an answer. It changed his life. It gave his life direction and a mission. It took the light of the gospel to the ends of the then-known world.
Saul asked this question as soon as he encountered Jesus. Some others wait an eternity before they even begin to think of asking this question. But it is never too late. If you have not asked this question yet, think about it. What prevents you from asking it? And how long will you wait before asking it?
Saul asked this question because he got the answer to the first question. He understood that Jesus is indeed Lord! It is that understanding that you and I need today. He is the Lord of this universe. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. All knees will bow before Him one day. And every tongue will confess that He is Lord! All authority in heaven and on earth has been given Him. This is the glory of Jesus, the One risen from the dead. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Have you understood Jesus as Lord? Probably not. If you had understood Him as Lord, you would have asked the question: “What shall I do, Lord?” An understanding that He is Lord makes you think immediately of His desired purpose for your life. Surely your life would make a difference. Is that not the reason why He has met with you? But how would you know the purpose that you are to fulfill unless you ask Him about it? So the question to ask now is, “What shall I do, Lord?”
Possibly, this is the best question you can ask as you stand at the crossroads of life. Probably the answer may not be as dramatic as the Damascus Road experience of Saul. But still turning points in life are vitally important to you. But more so to God as He waits for you to ask, “What shall I do, Lord?” Many miss the purpose of their life simply because they fail to ask this question. They stop after having asked the first one. They are satisfied that they had met Jesus. But they forget the fact that every encounter with Jesus is purposeful.
The woman at the well in Samaria (John 4), Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19), Nathanael who sat under the fig tree (John 1), Nicodemus (John 3:1,2; 19:39) are all examples of purposeful encounters in the life of Jesus. So remember, He has met you with a purpose. Are you ready to fulfill it? If so, you have to ask the question in earnest: “What shall I do, Lord?” Ask, before the day is over. Even now the day is far spent and the night is closing in.
As far as Saul was concerned, Jesus told him to get up and go into Damascus: “There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do” (Acts 22:10b NIV). And Saul obeyed. He, till his last lap on earth, continued to fulfill the purpose for which Jesus had encountered him on the road to Damascus. He could say truthfully, “I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven” (Acts 26:19b NIV).
Finally, he could say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV).
The entire future of his life was decided by the question he decided to ask Jesus: “What shall I do, Lord?” Therefore if you earnestly desire to make an impact for God in your generation, ask God today to reveal to you the purpose of your life. It could be the most important question you might ever ask on earth!