MARTYR CHILDREN. Pt. 3

And it seems to me that the children’s mother is on the verge of renouncing her Lord for the sake of her offspring; as if Caesar may yet relent, and allow them to go free. I glance in the direction of our emperor, but if he is close to giving a ‘thumbs up,’ the bright sunlight, and my poor eyesight forbid me from detecting it. Of course, at this stage in the scenario, how would anyone step in to deter the savage beasts from their grisly mission?

However, as the lions creep, nearer yet nearer to the objects of their quest, the children’s mother seems to steel herself, and draws her son and daughter, yet closer, kisses the one and the other on their foreheads, glances towards the heavens, and slowly lifts her hands.

And in the course of minutes, the deed is done.

A father and mother who have done the most difficult thing any parent could possibly do. Having been assured, in advance, that they had only to say the word, and not only they, but their children would go free. They had only to renounce their Jesus, and confess Caesar as Lord, and this whole sorry ‘mistake’ would be forgiven.

The words were never spoken, and with hardly a whimper the dear little family fell on the field, and passed from this life to the next.

And so like the man who viewed the event from the upper seats, as the consideration occurred to me this week, I experienced a mental and emotional epiphany. Parents who exercised such a compelling faith in the risen Lord that they invested not only their lives, and the fate of their eternal souls to Him, but that of their children, as well.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)


by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 70. Copyright pending 

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