The Big Idea: Marking a Bible passage helps you examine it carefully to apply it to your daily life.
Manual for Life
Mark up my Bible? It is a special, sacred book. At the same time, it is an active manual for life and godliness, meant to be read, studied and applied. It should be a part of life, not for display only. Please consider one Bible as your workbook!
Why mark up the Bible?
- It slows you down to take it all in.
- You notice details. People, places, key words.
- You see correlations, repetition and contrasts.
- You remember more.
- You can easily find a marked passage to reaffirm you and more easily share with others.
What should you use to mark it?
Some Bibles have very thin paper so don't use ordinary ink pens. They and everyday highlighters bleed through eventually. Colored pencils work. I print the text as a worksheet to not write in my Bible. It keeps my Bible free from looking cluttered and leaves my preferred Bible fresh each time I read.
Use writing materials that will not bleed through over time called "archival"quality. Scrapbooking pens and markers work well. Suggestion: PigmaMicron pens. Highlighter, ZebriteEco-Double.
What should you mark?
Read the passage over multiple times, each time looking for something different. You can focus better and you hold only one color at a time. Reading the passage repeatedly will help you notice something new each time. On my first pass, I mark God and references to Him.
1. God. There is a way to differentiate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (We will do this one next week. The rest of them the following week.)
2. People. I usually use blue for the author voice, and orange for the audience. When using couples I use blue and pink (like a passage on Joseph blue and Mary, pink).
3. Places. I double underline places, nations and nationalities in double green.
4. Time references. I use a simple clock showing 3 o'clock. This includes morning, night, seasons, etc.
5. Key Words. Colors and/or symbols work here. Just be consistent. It could be thematic words like love, sin, forgiveness, or financial references, nouns like heaven and hell, qualities such as peace, etc.
There is no wrong way, just what works for you. I mark the person's name and all their pronouns. My husband prefers to not mark the pronouns. There is no right or wrong way. Consistency throughout the Scriptures is useful for your future reference. The Precept marking system is useful. A bookmark comes with each study. Here is a link to a helpful site with 8 pages of word markings alphabetized. Also here are instructions how to make your own worksheet from any Bible text.
Considering the Bible as a way God talks to us. Marking your Bible allows you to interact with Him.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB 95)_________________________________
This is eighth in a series called Practical Starter Guide for Inductive Bible Study.
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Reflect:
1. Do you feel funny
about writing in your Bible? Or did you feel that way at one time? Why?
2. Have you ever seen
someone's Bible with passages marked up and writing in the margins, etc? What impression did it give you about that person?
3, What advantage
might there be to write in your Bible? If you have done this before, how has it
been useful for you?
