Spruce Up Your Bible

There are many Bibles around, but none like mine!; That is because I have made mine very personal to me and therefore precious. Some people do not want to mark in their Bibles, but I am glad I am not one of them!

HOW TO HIGHLIGHT VERSES:

Some people use highlighters or ink to mark their Bibles but I found colored pencils or crayons work much better. When marking with highlighters, always use a light color such as yellow.; If I do underline something with ink, I found that using a straight edge makes it look much neater. (I have one Bible that I use ink to underline.)

I learned long ago that the flair pens bleed through the page and tend to look sort of messy. (That’s what I used as a kid.) Colored pencils work very well and there is a wide variety of colors that you could use to underline verses. Crayons are my favorite though because they cover quickly and provide lots of color choices.

THINGS TO MARK:

1. Memorized verses. Every verse I memorized I mark because if I made the effort to memorize it, I think it’s worth reviewing.  By marking it, I review it again when I see it and it also helps me to find it if I forget the reference, not that you would ever forget the reference, but you may.  If I forget the reference, I can usually remember the book and if it’s marked, it makes it easy to find it.
2. Salvation verses. I like color coding so colored the salvation verses with red. Starting with John 3:16, next to it I list the reference of the next salvation verse (Romans 3:23) and so on. By doing this, I am always ready to share the plan of salvation using scripture if the opportunity should arise. It has been useful in teaching Sunday School and counseling situations.
3. Commands. Things to do or not to do that stand out to me are marked with blue (blue rhymes with do).
4. Promises. For God’s promises that “pop” out at me, I color with orange.
5. Truths about God. These I mark in yellow (reminds me of God’s glory).

MAKING NOTES:

Now, this is when I use a pen for making notes in the margin. I jot down sermon/class notes such as what some words mean, perhaps an object lesson or story illustration for a particular passage that I thought was especially good, the month/year that I marked the verse, or sometimes a situation I am going through when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart through a particular verse or passage.

I realize I am a bit more organized and into color coding more than most people, but even if you don’t use my color coding suggestion, I encourage you to start marking your Bible your way and make it special to you. I immediately felt a connection with my "Circle of Friends" Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) group leader who also encouraged the class to use colored pencils to mark our Bibles. The best part about taking time to do this is that you spend time in God’s Word.

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