The use of two words side-by-side to describe life caught my attention one day. Either word could be intriguing on its own; The words introduce metaphors which, while common in English usage, are not straighforward. But when placed side-by-side, the metaphors fight.
The words are walking and rooted.
When we walk, we move from one place to another.
Roots dig into the soil and gather life-sustaining nutrients. They also bind a plant to one location. Once rooted, plants don’t move.
To speak of someone being both walking and rooted flies in the face of common sense[1]. Yet, one sentence in the middle of the New Testatment pulls those images together to describe the faithful perserverance of folk who follow Jesus:
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6-7, NASB 1995, bold added)
That juxtaposition is well worth exploring. This site is dedicated to pondering this sentence from Colossians and all of the Scripture passages that help me better understand what it means—in word and in action.
At present, the following paragraph is here to observe whether N.T. Greek can be presented well on this site.
Ὡς οὖν παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν κύριον, ἐν αὐτῷ περιπατεῖτε, ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε, περισσεύοντες ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ. (Colossians 2:6-7, NA28, bold added)