- It aids retention. Spending just those few extra seconds goes a long toward impressing those words in your memory.
- It helps you see the themes and topics in a passage. If I glance at a page with a lot of pink circles and shading I know that “comfort” is the focus of the passage.
- It helps you find the verses again. The visual clues make the search much easier.
- It encourages you on your journey. Seeing evidence of growth is always a boost.
1. Â Start small. Don’t start trying to mark every concept or key word in Scripture. It will stretch your reading time into an hours-long marathon and you’ll quickly lose steam. Plus you’ll forget what you’re marking and why. Choose a one or two ideas, or words – hope or healing for example – and mark them consistently. Next year or next time through the Bible, add a few more. My marking list has grown over ten or twelve years.
2. Â Use an index card or a bookmark or a blank page in your Bible to keep track of what you mark and how.
3. Â Colored ball point pens work great. I also like colored pencils, Crayola Twistables and Micron pens (they don’t bleed through). I keep a small plastic ruler in my Bible to keep my underlines straight, because I’m just that way.
Lauren says
(I meant to comment on this earlier…)
Yes! I mark in it all the time! I highlight, underline if I can't find my highlighter, and my Psalms is completely marked. Verses are boxed, circled, and starred to remind me later. I love marking in it–it just helps me so much with the study. It makes me really remember the verses. I absolutely have a blast reading it when I mark in it. It's almost like marking a script in a way, the script of life. 🙂
Loved this post!
Lynn says
I too, like to not only mark all scriptures that I've studied or had explained to me, but also take notes in the margins in my Bible.
When I'm tempted to replace my Bible (like with one in large print) I always stop short when I realize how much I'd lose and how long it would take to try to transfer all those 26 and 1/2 years of notes into a new one.
Even when I do research or study in my Quest or The Book editions my final reading and notes have to be in my good ole broken-in Bible that Larry gave to me for Christmas the year we were married.
Paula says
Glad to hear it helps you, Patsy! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment 🙂
Patsy says
I do mark in my Bible. It has mark lines all in it. And I'm glad that I started doing that.