Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Why I don't write in my Bible

I use to, which is crazy because I hate it when people write in books. It is one thing that will always annoy me. So why did I start writing in my most precious book of all?

I was at a Christian youth camp and everyone else was doing it. I think there was a bit of 'superior spirituality' going on - the more verses you had underlined and the more notes you had in the margin the better Christian you were - or so we thought.

But later on I realised that if I started to read a passage that had a verse underlined or a note next to it I would always stop and read that. Often that verse would be the thing that stayed in my head. This is fine, but I would rather be hearing what God has to say in the passage to em right at this point in time, not what someone I heard preaching had to say a while ago.

Don't get me wrong, if you do underline and write in your Bible, that's fine. Just for me, I have decided to stop. I'm glad that I only ever wrote in my big Bible. My small-print,leather -bound, so-cute-and-small-you-can-pop-it-in-any-bag Bible is as clean and fresh as the day I was given it (besides the usual wear and tear from being used and popped in bags). I use that one the most because it's most convenient and also because I can read it and listen to what God is telling me in each passage without distraction.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

I completely and utterly understand. This is another reason why I don't use a Study bible anymore. I spent more time reading the notes than reading the Scriptures. I've started writing out Scriptures that make me think or stand out when I'm reading in a notebook. If I want to I can write what is challenging me in particular but mostly I just copy the Scripture as is. I got that idea from the OT somewhere where it said that a King should write out his own copy of the law that he would read and study during his reign. I figured I could copy out a verse or two each day or so when reading my Bible! :) I really enjoy reading your blog btw, keep posting!

Erin said...

Exactly! If I don't understand something, or I'm really interested in it I can read what other people have to say about a particular verse. But during quiet time it's nice to just be me and God.