Making Bible reading a daily habit can be a challenge. I use my devices to read and study and it’s easy for me to get distracted by renewed lives on Candy Crush or a reply to a Facebook status. Also, reading on a small screen takes away the experience for me. I like to read a verse, make notes and doodles, reflect on what I thought I read and how to apply it to my life. Then there are the times when I am CLUELESS about what I just read. I need a little extra for the passage I read to make sense.
Using the Chronological Life Application study Bible I also find it easy to get distracted, but in a good way. The Bible is set up in ten different sections that helps me see HOW the stories of the Bible fit together.
The chapters begin with a timeline that shows how events intersect. There’s smaller devotions for things such as “Great Expectations”, that shows how Jeses did the unexpected as well as exceeded people’s expectations. There’s a section that gives an explanation about marriage. Almost every verse has a devotional content that delves further into the meaning of a verse. For example, Psalm 6:6 says
I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
The devotional content explains that we don’t need to be “victims of circumstances of be weighted down by the guilt of sin. Be honest with God, and he will help turn your attention from yourself to him and his mercy.”
This not only gave me a deeper meaning of the verse, but it also gave me a deeper understanding of the relationship I need to continue to cultivate with God.
My complaint about the book is the weight. Hardcover Bibles are difficult to navigate because of the heft. There’s no lying in bed leisurely perusing this tome. This book requires full attention both physically and spiritually.
Keep the conversation going. Comments welcomed!