Around 10 years ago, I was in the market for a new
bible. I’d had a pocket-sized HCSB, that
I loved. It had a pretty cover, fit in
my purse, and it had enough room in the margins for a few notes. However, I had recently been introduced to
the ESV and I really liked that translation.
I tried to find a version in the style and size of my HCSB, but
couldn’t. It wasn’t long before I found
the ESV journaling bible. It was great
because it had large, lined margins for notes.
Then this year, I began working at a Christian bookstore. I noticed that journaling bibles had become a
thing. They were everywhere. People were coming in in droves to buy
them. Churches were having classes for
them. We even had an event for it. I also learned that “journaling” in a bible,
basically meant drawing and doodling in the margins – not what I’d been doing
for the past 8 years.
I flipped through one of the books on journaling and
dismissed it instantly as bunk. There
were drawings over the words. It was no
longer a bible but a doodle book. One of
my co-workers who was running the event had brought her personal bible and was
showing off her work. It was good, very
pretty (and not over the words), but I still dismissed it as just a fad. Beautiful, but still a fad.
So, I went home that night, tired and weary with a headache. All I wanted to do was take a nap before we
went to church. However, there were
several things going on, so I decided to just take a few minutes and read over
the Scripture that we were studying that night; it was only 2 verses,
Colossians 1:1-2. As I read them, I
thought about one of the journaling books I’d looked at. It gave instructions for journaling.
Step 1 was to read the verse and really think about what it
says, looking for key words. As I read
Colossians 1:2, key words jumped out at me.
I saw what it would look like written on a page. So, I picked up a sketch pad (still not down
for doodling in my bible) and began to write the verse out using some of the
journaling techniques. Then I grabbed my
colored pencils and began to think on the words and what colors they evoked.
It was kind of amazing.
As I sat there and meditated on this verse, thinking about it and
drawing it out, I began to feel energized and relaxed. By the time I was done, my headache was gone
and I was excited to go to church and study this verse that was now so vibrant
in my mind.
Like with most things, I think there are good and bad
aspects. I know that there are those out
there that express themselves artistically.
The journaling pages with images evoked from Scripture are amazing. They just aren’t for me. At the end of the day, my bible is for
reading and study and I don’t like anything that may mask that. I also like having my margins for notes and
references.
However, journaling Scripture that you are studying has an
amazing meditative quality to it. It is
wonderfully therapeutic. I may not do it
regularly or do one of the journaling challenges that are floating arounds, but
I love the idea of using it as a devotional or study tool.
What about you? Where
do you land on bible journaling?
