Flames of Rome....

Lately in school I’ve been studying the history of Rome. Part of my history is this book called “The Flames of Rome” which is about Nero and what a perverted asinine dolt he was. I’m telling you, this is probably the hardest book I’ve ever read. By hard to read I don’t mean, “Where’s my dictionary? I don’t know what this means!” etc. What’s hard to read is the in depth grotesque details of every sickening thing the Romans did. I mean, they did a lot of things which I’ll list in a minute. One of them being that they killed Christians like we kill flies. And this left me wondering….could I die for my beliefs?

Now, here’s that list….

1.         They thought suicide was honorable.

2.         Ever heard of matricide? Infanticide?  Patricide?  How about uxoricide?

3.         Adultery was normal and encouraged as well.

4.         Their parties were so disgustingly perverted; I’ll spare you the grotesque particulars.

5.         Incest was outlawed, but widely practiced.

6.         Cutting was used to control one’s life span, a little cut here, and another in a few hours. I guess some people wanted to say goodbye before they killed themselves off?

7.         There was excessive drinking. *dodges tomatoes*

8.         You think crime rates are high now? Take a trip to ancient Rome…

9.         Homosexuality was “normal” but then….unfortunately I suppose it still is. Nero himself had not only two wives (one male one female) but he was one himself (in case you missed that, he was married to one woman and two men. That is, until he killed his chick wife and child.)

10.   (Now this one is the closest to my heart, and the hardest one to read/write about….) Christians were murdered. And I don’t just mean murdered, I mean, they were burned to death, crucified, beaten to death, eaten by wild dogs and lions…there’s more, but I’d rather not say.

While I was reading this book, I imagined I was one of those Christians. Could I die for the same God who died for me a few thousand years ago? Could I remain silent and peaceful as I was being torn apart by wild beasts and laughed at and mocked? Not that I haven’t been mocked for my faith, because I have. However, strangely enough...when people do make fun of me for what I believe, I feel sad for them because they’re missing out on something amazing.

But back to being tortured to death…           

Could I do it? I really wasn’t sure until I made a list of pros and cons in my head (I really can’t believe I had to do this…AND I’m admitting to it too…) and the pros outweighed the cons for sure. I guess I looked at it like, ‘God didn’t give up on me, so why the heck should I ever give up on Him?’ And also, the thought of dying for my beliefs was much happier than that of living out the entire rest of my life knowing that I denied the only Person in my life that never has and never will let me down. The Guy that thinks I’m perfect no matter what. The Friend that always understands….the God who made the universe.

And now I know for a fact, I would gladly die for Him. However, I couldn’t do it by my own power, because I have none. I know that the only way I could do it is if God met me there, and I believe with my whole heart, that He would.

So, I guess the point in all of this is….as America leans more and more toward the ways of Rome, if Christianity is ever outlawed….I will gladly except whatever fate I receive and I am not backing down, no matter the consequences.