Clam Strips

Clam Strips: a line of clams glued to a waterproofed wooden strip for decorative purposes in salt water aquariums. Which is of course a definition made up out of nothing but my own imagination. If I make up terms to suit the moment, soon the language of my writing will be incomprehensible to one and all, including myself. When Paul began writing his letter to the Romans, he did not seek to define Christ. Jesus had already come as a baby to Bethlehem and lived the life of Christ. Those who followed Jesus after the cross became known as Christians. Paul did write to the Roman Christians to answer the question that many of us have run into from time to time: What or who is a Christian? No, Paul didn't explicitly state that, but he answers the question so well in his letter to the Romans that we can play the Jeopardy game and give the question to Paul's answer.

Paul's answer is both simple and complex. Those who believe in Christ are Christians (Romans 1:16), but then there are 15 more chapters of Romans plus the remainder of the first chapter written to answer that complex question. In the same way, the life God leads us through is both simple and complex. There are simple commands that are at times hard to place into practice, such as "Love one another.", and then complex questions such as: Why am I the way I am?

We also live with a monster who lusts after the things of this world, desires control, believes in self-righteousness, and thinks it is basically decent and good. Paul takes a few chapters at the beginning of Romans to say, "Nope, it ain't!" The good news is of course that it doesn't end there. We are reborn in Christ through the love of God, and while the journey is tough, we will arrive home with Jesus one day.

There, Romans in a nutshell. The rest is of course details we all need to know. Have a great day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky