But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it! Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT)
Vocation – Part 5
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4
Your story doesn’t make you holy, what you do doesn’t make more in God’s favour, so never ever live in such a way as to earn your son/daughter-ship. You already have it. It’s never been a question of “do you deserve this…” His love is a gift. All of life is a gift. So take it.
Live your life in such a way that it expresses the love of God through your unique set of skills, perception and understanding. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself to let Jesus shine through you. Let go of the expectations of the world, the pressures of the day, and the constructs of our culture and let God come underneath, around and through your hopes and dreams, skills and talents. He fulfills your true self. And in the pursuit of this divine partnership, entanglement, engagement you will leave a mark on this world of love, freedom and hope.
Before Jeremiah was born, God had already given him purpose. While he walked the earth, and although his was not an easy vocation, God empowered Jeremiah to be all that he had within himself to be. At one point, he was struggling under the pressure and rejection of the people and asked God “why?”. He said that he didn't want to be the voice of God to his people, that he would keep his mouth shut. Then in Jeremiah 20:9 he says,
“But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”
What’s the fire in your bones? Don’t listen to what people think you should be doing, or what the world says is success, or what marketing says you need. Follow the fire, pray and seek God, find that thing that you love to do with your whole being and let God ignite it with His love and grace. Pursue it with all you have.
St Catherine of Siena, one of the two patron saints of Italy, together with St. Francis of Assisi (FYI) said,
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
Don’t get me wrong – get advice, listen to those who love you, seek God in everything you do… surround yourself with wisdom. But the end of the day, your life is yours, so take responsibility for it. The pursuit of your calling and the unleashing your true self is a journey of discipline, of learning and growing, of overcoming and being determined. It’s not for the faint hearted. And you my friends, do not have faint hearts. God is within you and all around you. So step out in confident faith, be and do what only you can.
Go to PART 6 “Story of My Life”
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