How to Note Take in the Bible
Sisters - we give you permission to WRITE IN YOUR BIBLE. It's ok!!
We've been asked about note-taking and highlighting (tomorrow's post) in our bibles & wanted to give a two-day blog post about it.
It is very important to write things down that we learn or even things that inspire us. When we write in our bibles, we are making our own commentary. We are not interpreting the Scriptures as we think they should be defined. Rather, we are making notes of words that stand out to us, biblical definitions of new words to our vocabulary, marking ideas or concepts that call to us - all to stand out later when we read upon those verses the next time. Small notes can be written in your bible for future reference. If we are going to spend some time reflecting or meditating, as with Lectio Divina, a journal may be suited better to our needs. Margins are only so big! But they are there for a reason! :)
Below are some examples of note taking within our Bibles (because having pictures is always awesome):
In Nehemiah chapter 9, we read about the actions of God toward the people. All the boxed words are things that God did. "You..." Look how many there are!
Here in Jonah, chapter 3, our reader underlined a part of the sentence that stood out to her. "that I will tell you".... We can see that she made an extra note as to why this line is important to her: God didn't give Jonah access to all the blueprints. How often are we asked to follow God's will & not know all the details?
Sometimes, repetition is what can stand out to us. Here in Matthew, chapter 5, only the first Beatitude is a promise of the now, with the word "is". All of the rest of the promises show us they will be fulfilled in the future, with the word "will". Boxes, or circles, it doesn't matter. Whatever fits your fancy!
Here in Genesis, chapter 1, the reader made notes of a correlation to another verse. She had learned in a bible study that "God said" is written 10 times during the Creation story. That matches up with the 10 Commandments, where God comes to Moses and tells him His laws. 10 and 10.
For just a quick thought, our reader makes a connection in the book of Jonah. She made small notes in her Bible margins; notes that would match a bigger reflection in a separate journal. By writing a little summary here, she expanded upon it separately. Now when she looks at this inscription, it reminds her of her full reflection she wrote down elsewhere.
For the artsy HOMWF Sister, sometimes we like to doodle & use our colorful Sharpies. This reader rewrote important verse instead of underlining them. It's like Pinterest & her Bible merged.
Some of us may not learn this way; we can remember information just by reading it on the first round. However, it can still be beneficial to take notes in your Bible as a reference. There is so much to learn from the Word of God. One verse can have so much impactful information that it would take several lifetimes to begin to understand it all. So go ahead - write in that Bible! And if you run out of space, GREAT! Go buy a new one. Keep the old one for reference :)
Taking notes in your Bible? Post a photo on Instagram using #HOMWFnotetaker ! We'd love to see how God has been inspiring you!
