{Giveaway} Marking Up Your Bible

As I glanced up from my perch on the couch to notice the number of Bibles stacked high on the shelf, I couldn’t help but feel a tad bit guilty. I mean, really. Does one need to have a Bible in a dozen different translations, sizes, colors, and formats? I must admit, it really isn’t a need, especially with the easily accessible information available online (Bible Gateway is my favorite place for looking up Scripture).

So, why do I have so many different kinds of Bibles? Well, because of this one thing:

I want to mark up my Bible with evidence of my journey of faith to pass down to the next generation.

And, quite frankly, I write so much in my margins and underline so many passages, that using the same Bible again and again would make it impossible for me to read. While I’ve only once ever read through the Bible in a year, I intentionally read through a Bible from cover to cover. Oh, it may take a couple of years, but I keep at it. When I finish, it hits the pile on the shelf and I get a new one. I change up the translation and explore a new format, simply to keep my mind engaged in the process. After hearing Cynthia Heald and Esther Burroughs speak recently, I’m all the more fired up about digging deeper into the Word.

Is it enough to just cruise through one chapter and move on?

Am I meditating on His Word and letting it soak into my soul?

And how much time am I spending praising the Lord through recounting back to Him the Word rather than just petitioning Him for my needs?

Journaling bible

Friend, the Holy Spirit has been on me about this habit — the one in which we’re constantly asking God for things and not pausing long enough to praise Him, hear Him, and ‘fess up our stuff. We skip right to the “give me” and forsake the time it takes to build a relationship with God. Even though we say we don’t think He’s our magic genie in the sky, we’re certainly acting like that . . . or at least I am all too often.

It was in Jen Wilkin’s study on the Sermon of the Mount that this conviction came over me like a tidal wave. She so beautifully captures a pattern for prayer as revealed in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:

Worship . . . Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Allegiance . . .  Your kingdom come.

Submitting . . .  Your will be done as it is in heaven.

Petition  . . . Give us this day our daily bread.

Confession . . .  Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Deliverance . . .  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Does my prayer life resemble anything like this?

Does yours?

Do we skate through worship and skip over confession?

Are we kingdom-minded or self-absorbed?

Oh my, the Spirit was showing me where I need to put more time in my prayer life, and honestly, that means I need to spend more time meditating on the Word. I need to know the Scriptures at a deeper level so that the Word influences my prayer time more than my feelings. And so, when Crossway offered me a copy of their new journaling Bible, I jumped on the opportunity . . . because I want to slow my quiet time down.

[Tweet “I want to linger longer in the Word. Don’t you? #JOURNALINGBIBLE #FLYBY”]

And now, I’ll have a space that invites me to do that in the ESV Journaling Bible as I scribble out notes and prayers and praises and confessions (oh, maybe I’ll keep that part verbal). And, maybe, I’ll get a little creative too. . . as long as the pursuit of creativity doesn’t become a distraction in an effort to create a masterpiece. Oh yes, that could happen as I cruise through Instagram and see so much talent.

Yes, journaling is all the rage, my friends. Grownups with ink pens scribbling for fun happens to be taking over our culture, and so be it. I want to slow down and scribble a bit, too. It’s good for my soul to dabble with color while my mind wanders into a space without noise, but full of thought. See that picture up there  . . . it’s not a masterpiece but it’s a moment in which God spoke to my heart . . . and I took the time to think it out, pray it out, scribble it out, and color it up. So maybe I’ll color. Or maybe I’ll just jot down some thoughts I want the next generation to know as they flip through their Ya-ya’s (that’s what I want my grandchildren to call me one day) stack of Bibles.

May they know I’m a woman passionate about the Word who found her rest as she wandered into worship and allegiance, submission and petition, confession and deliverance with Most High God.

What about you? How could a journaling Bible invite you into a deeper time with the Lord and in His Word?

prayer prompts

 

I’d love for you to get your hands on a journaling Bible too.

Read below about the the ESV Journaling Bible and enter the giveaway sponsored by Crossway. 

 

About the ESV Journaling Bible

The ESV Journaling Bible provides the perfect way for you to keep a journal of your spiritual life right inside the Bible that you read and study each day. With covers and formats that look like the finest journals, the Journaling Bible features two-inch ruled margins for writing observations, reflections, prayers, praises, notes, and journal entries. This unique Bible makes a great gift and lasting keepsake for anyone who values God’s Word. 

Features:

  • Black letter text
  • Double-column, paragraph format
  • Cream-colored paper
  • 2″ ruled margins
  • One-Year Bible Reading Plan
  • Introductions and section headings for each Bible book 
  • Retail Price: $37.99

The purpose of Crossway has been, from its founding as a not-for-profit ministry in 1938, to publish gospel-centered, Bible-centered content that will honor our Savior and serve his Church. They seek to help people understand the massive implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God.  

Visit Crossway | Crossway on Facebook | Crossway on Twitter | Crossway on Instagram

Giveaway Sponsored by Crossway. Open to US Entrants Only.

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5 thoughts on “{Giveaway} Marking Up Your Bible”

  1. Love the idea of a journaling Bible. I just discovered these a few months ago and it is on my Christmas wish list. 🙂
    I have a copy of just the Psalms that I have been journaling through and it has gotten me very excited about a whole Bible for journal study!

  2. Hi Lisa,
    I just recently bought this Bible for myself!
    I want to thank you for your encouragement in digging deeper into God’s word. I also want to thank you for your admission that you don’t read through the Bible in a year. I have read the Bible through in a year for about 3 years but for the past couple of year it has been a struggle. It has been a struggle because I can’t seem to follow the reading-thru-a year schedule because many times the time flies by while I am trying to dig deeper. I have been feeling guilty because I have not been able to keep the schedule. And this feeling of guilt leaves me in a rut and disoriented many times because I feel lost. I need to be more focused and determined to stick with one decision to just try to dig deeper and not worry about reading the entire bible in a year.

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