There is nothing like the sound of a page from the Bible turning. The sound of the thin crisp paper flipping over is holy in-and-of itself. It’s as if it fills the airwaves with awe and wonder.
For years, I have had my same morning ritual for Bible reading and journaling. And in each scenario the process was messy. Not only a messy work, but I love messy marked-up Bibles. Through the marks it’s as if I can see how God reached down to console or teach or just love through His Word.
My ritual was planned. I’d need a journal (one with wide-lines preferably), a favorite pen, a One-Year Bible, My Utmost for His Highest devotional journal, and a copy of Jesus Calling.
Through those tools, my Bible and pages became messy.
There were pen marks of prayers written, dates marking what God had done, and highlighted passages. It was messy and beautiful. This routine felt holy and served me well for decades.
But the last months the routine seemed less than holy and more like a ritual I had to come to every morning. I waffled for awhile trying to understand why this beautiful routine now felt awkward and wrong. Then I finally realized when your Bible reading doesn’t feel holy, it’s time to make some changes.
Messy Bible ~ Pure Heart
As I’ve said, I have always had a messy Bible with underlining, highlights, and annotations. Many have asked, “How can you do that to the Holy Bible?” And my answer is always the same, “This bound-up book is not what’s Holy. This book was published by some company here in the US. Now, the Words within they are Holy. They are from God and He wants me to soak them into my heart with everything I have. Messy helps me do that.”
After waffling around through my quiet times, I’ve gone to another level of messy in my approach. Every line is messy! A marked-up mess and I feel revived.
4 Lessons You’ll Learn from Having a Messy Bible
- You don’t need a scripted routine. I use to have a certain order I’d read my Bible, certain order I’d read my devotionals. Everything was so scripted. But now, I don’t even begin in Genesis or Matthew. This month, I began in Luke. I don’t have a certain amount of scriptures allotted to study per day. If I only get through 16 verses because I’m lost in the magnitude of God’s Word, then that’s priceless time.
- You’ll gain fresh insight to scripture. I’ll say right here, I’ve never had this messy of a Bible. But with this marked-up Bible came a welcomed new way of spending time with God. First, I read a whole chapter underlining what spoke to me. Then I go back and make annotations from deeper study, write prayers, or notes to myself. After I’ve read, written and studied I go back and highlight and reread every word color coding it to the passage of scripture it points back to.
- You’ll unleash your creativity. I’ve heard about journaling Bibles for years and even coloring Bibles recently, but I always thought those weren’t for me. I’m not sure why, because I journal. Maybe I thought I wouldn’t know what to write in those margins. But having this much writing room in my Bible is a blessing. Now, instead of my notes being in separate journals, I’ll have them right there beside the scripture. And using the colored highlighters, well . . . that’s just a creativity bonus. It slows me down to savor God’s Word even further.
- You’ll have visible evidence of how you treasure God’s Word. With every passage of scripture highlighted and your own hand-written notes, it’s easy to see and appreciate how much you honor and appreciate God’s word. And it’s true . . . a messy Bible leads to a pure heart.
Are you ready to have a messy Bible and a pure heart?
If you highlight and mark-up your Bible, I’d love to know your thoughts. Do you have a process or creative way you approach the scriptures?