Set the World on Fire

"If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire!"
~Saint Catherine of Sienna

That's wonderful!  But many of us then come to the question, what am I meant to be?
We are meant to be happy, joyful people living abundantly in the grace of our God through Jesus.
Does that sound like you?
I want it to be me, and as Bill Murray says in the movie Groundhog Day, "I'm really close on this one!"

How do we know though that we are living the life we are supposed to live, the life we were created to
live?  I believe that God creates the desires in our hearts for the life we were created for.  I know that I was
not created to sew, be a doctor, take vows of a nun, go to the Olympics or even to be a banker or an elementary school teacher.  How do I know these things for certain?  I do not have a desire in my heart for those things.  While I may be able to study and learn some of these things and if I work really hard and apply myself I might someday become adequate.  That doesn't sound like living abundantly, does it?

John 10:10 reads "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly!"  That is why Jesus came.  If we are believers and followers and we're not living abundantly, we must ask ourselves where is the disconnect?

As children, we are encouraged to dream and aspire to accomplish great things. We dream about where we'll live and travel, what work we'll do and the family we'll have.  We get excited thinking about all the world has to offer and where we find the most joy.  As we get older, those dreams get squelched and squashed by dream killers and the brutal reality of daily routine.  We begin to feel foolish for dreaming and immature for believing life has more to offer. We settle into what's expected of us....a steady job with good benefits, quitting school to stay home and care for the house and family, taking over the family business or giving up traveling for the sake of stability.  Now, if that job, staying home, the family business or your home town ignite a fire in your belly and make you jump out of bed in the morning with enthusiasm, then you are in fact following your desires.  Unfortunately, most people don't and they are left feeling empty and passionless in their lives.

Jesus is passionate.  He is passionate about us, about our lives and our futures.  He is passionate about our relationship with Him and with the Father.  Listen to the sense of urgency in His voice in this prayer in the gospel of John.
"I pray that they (my followers) may all be one, Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you.  Father, you have given them to me and I want them to be with me where I am so that they many see my glory, the glory you gave me! I made you known to them and I will continue to do so in order that the love you have for me may be in them and so that I also may be in them!" (17:21-26)

We are made in that Image...that holy and passionate and all-out Image.  We are made for passion and purpose. 
For today- go back to dreaming and go deep within your own heart to discover the passions and talents that God planted there before you were born.  Be willing to step out and follow those talents and begin to find your purpose as you do live happily, joyfully and abundantly in the grace of God!