I love to study the Bible in a formal study with other people. I did that for many years of my life. But over the past few years I simply haven’t been able to commit to being in attendance, and I don’t like to do things halfway. In these years, I’ve taken what I’ve learned about studying God’s Word from teachers like Kay Arthur and Beth Moore and used them to study God’s Word on my own. Which I’ll admit has been hit or miss. This is studying vs reading, mind you. I always read, but that is different from in-depth study.
Anyway, I’ve found myself longing to dive into Romans lately. And while I know there are many great studies out there to guide me, I really wanted to see what I could glean for myself. But there are so many notes in my Bible and I didn’t want to go into with previous thoughts. Like when I used to do Precepts Bible studies, I wanted to look at the text without any markings or annotations. So I started searching for a new Bible, a fresh one for fresh notes. Only I couldn’t decide. In my era of truly feeding on the Word I have one Bible that has 15 years of notes, another almost 10, so choosing a whole new Bible is a weighty decision for me, one I don’t make quickly. But I wanted to get into study.
What to do?
In my searching, I happened on something entirely unique, something that would allow me to both read and note-take as if observing the text for the first time. The ESV Scripture Journal can be purchased as a set, or each book of the Bible separately. (Some of the really small ones are together, but most are one book to one book.) They are journal-sized and thin, which makes them great for travel. But the best part? They are printed with the text on one page with the facing page blank for notes! Genius!
In this kind of study I dig in slowly, with several passes through each chapter, then reading through groups of chapters as I go, too. In each chapter I can mark up the text, makes connections and notes, then use the blank page for lists of things I learn from each chapter about God, myself, or whatever is the main focus.
Such an incredible study tool! I am looking forward to taking this on my next trip, not having to spend all my Word time on my phone or ipad because my Bible is too big and heavy to bring when carrying on my luggage.
The only thing left to decide? Whether to buy each book as I want to study it or bite the bullet and get the entire set, which, in the end, is quite a good deal vs buying them separately!
Do you have any wonderful Bible study tools to tell us about? Please share!