A Passion for God for the Glory of God

One of my heroes is a man by the name of St. Francis - or more commonly referred to as St. Francis of Assisi. He was born and raised in this town of Assisi, Italy and lived a normal childhood. He was quite the partier and the womanizer. He was one who was always living on the edge longing to have an exciting time which would bring cheer to his heart.

During the inquisition in Italy, he was captured and spent much time in a cement prison/dungeon. He was chained to the wall and the only light he ever saw was the faint daylight coming through his small window in the cell. This time alone - desperately alone - allowed Francis to reflect and meditate much on his life - that is, the reason for living.

Upon being released from the cell after the Inquisition, he often wandered off to secluded places contemplating, meditating and wondering what his life was all about.

He stumbled into a Church one day. It was nothing special. It was a one-room church-house. Upon entering, he looked up and saw a crucifix and immediately he was convicted. He says that he "heard the voice of God say to me, 'Go and rebuild my house.'" So not understanding to what degree he was to rebuild the house of God, he went and got a bucket and some water and began to wash the floors and walls of this one room church-house.

He then had to steal cloths and other sewn materials from his father's shop in order to pay for materials to clean the church. He was then brought before the city counsel - at the instigation of his father - to be tried. At this trial, Francis took off all his clothes - which were made by his father in the shop - and turned them in. This was a sign of Francis' repentance for stealing the clothing, as well as a way for him to pay back what he had stolen.

He then left the city to journey and live a life pleasing to God. Francis had one main goal, to live and follow the teachings of Jesus. He sought to live out the Gospel. In fact, Francis was one that - before he was regernated - when he would encounter a leper, he would immediately plug his nose because of their horrendous smell and turn and walk the other direction away from them. However, God had do radically changed his heart after saving him that the first place he went after being converted was to the lepers. It is recorded that he embraced them, he hugged them, he kissed them, he wept with them, he loved them. This puts his very well known quote into proper perspective, "Share the Gospel all the time, and then, if necessary, use words" (St. Francis of Assisi c. 1200AD).

Convicting words. Scholars of Francis' life called him a "hardcore radical for the cause of Jesus Christ." He was a man who was scorned, mocked, he had mud thrown at him and he was reviled for the name of Christ.

At one point he was preaching to a crowd and they were ignoring him. He got so angry at this that he turned his back to them and began to preach to the birds for he said, "Surely the birds will listen to a man preach." And they did, the birds listened.

In his preaching, Francis called people to do something hard. He called them utterly give their lives to Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi has really gripped my heart and my affections. I may not agree with everything he did. I surely do not hold to his view of transubstantiation. However, what I do want to learn from and strive to do is to live my life with a holy zeal for the cause of Christ just as Francis did in his life.

1 Timothy 4:7 really comes to light here: "Train yourself for godliness." The word for "train yourself" there is gumnazo. Gumnazo means to exercise; to train naked; to exercise and train vigorously of the entire body and mind. In fact, gumnazo is where we get our English word "gymnasium," hence the meaning of "gymnasium" - a place to train; exercise; sweat; work hard, etc.

Francis saw this verse and lived it out. So also should we - in the same way - seek to train ourselves for Godliness and let nothing hinder us. To God be all the Glory forever. Amen.