The Book Of Romans

     Some of you who have visited my blog before probably know that I've been reading my Bible as of late. A few months ago while leaving the tool store I saw some folks giving away King James Bibles, got one and began reading Psalms, then went back and started "In the beginning..." reading Genesis. A month or so later, my Jehovah's Witnesses friends stopped by and after a brief chat they gave me The New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures. It's just a more modern translation without all the  "thine, thee & therefore" which makes the KLV a little difficult for dummies like me to understand. I do keep a KJV in the car along with my New World just because some things I want to cross reference.

     To make a long story short, I am now reading the book of Romans in the New Testament. To show how little I knew about the Bible at age 58, I thought the book of Romans would be about the Romans still persecuting the Jews and especially Christians and beating them up.
     Yes, I did think this would be a rather odd subject to have in any religion's holy texts. It turns out that the full title of the book is The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. A side note to anyone less learned in the Bible than I am,  Epistles aren't the wives of the Apostles.. Epistle is a fancy old word for a letter. Sorry, that was a cheesy joke, but I did hear a preacher on TV tell it first.

     Speaking of TV preachers, I do watch several quite often and others on occasion and have heard most if not all say we shouldn't but they do have favorite books of the Bible. Most all name The Gospel According to John.as either their personal favorite or as at least one of the best places to start a Bible reading or study. As much as I enjoy John, the Gospel of Luke has the Christmas story we all (or most) grew up hearing. That never gets old for me.  In the Old Testament I thought the Book of Lamentations by its name alone would be the children of Israel weeping, moaning and complaining to God for their sufferings. Surprise to me and perhaps you, it is absolutely beautiful! That said, I am presently about in the middle of Romans and can wholeheartedly suggest that any time you don't feel God's love or his presence near you it is a book to turn to.

     Always remember I love you. So much more importantly, God loves you!