In two previous posts I have written about having the right equipment necessary for an enjoyable Bible reading experience.  In the first post I discussed finding the Bible that is right for you.  In the next post I wrote about how helpful a Bible handbook can be.  Can you guess what the final piece of equipment is?

A Journal

Any time you read the Bible you should always have a journal and a pen close by.  Why?  Because you will find rich deposits of truth when you read the Bible, and you will want to record them so you can refer back to them later.

For instance, you may have had a question on your mind.  It may be something you have been praying and asking the Lord about.  As you are reading your Bible, you may all of a sudden come upon a passage of Scripture that directly speaks to your question.  How long do you think you will remember the Scripture passage and how it spoke to you if you do not write it down?  Probably not very long!  Believe me, few things are more frustrating than finding a real gem of truth in the Bible and then not being able to find it later (ask me how I know!).  Taking a minute or two to jot down what you have read can save you a lot of time when you want to review it later.

I suggest using an actual notebook or journal rather than simply using scraps of paper.  In my experience it is too easy for the scraps to get lost or accidentally thrown in the garbage.  I have yet to lose or accidently throw away one of my journals.  Notebooks and journals are easy to come by these days (I am personally a big fan of the Moleskine journals my daughter-in-law introduced me to).  Pick one up and set it aside specifically to use with your Bible reading.  Not only will it be useful in recording the insights you discover while reading your Bible, you will also preserve these insights for others to glean from in the years to come.  A good Bible reading journal is well worth the investment.

In the next post I will show you a simple method for interacting with the Lord while you read your Bible.