Our family loves our individual time of reading the Bible and praying each morning. It has been a valuable habit that we are grateful to the Lord for instilling in our lives. Good habits can be difficult to start and easy to break while bad habits are easy to start and hard to break. Sadly, the flesh resists things that are good.
We find going to the Word first thing after we get up is important to cementing that discipline. We each have a comfortable and quiet place where we read and pray. We also like to note verses that are important to us. Some prefer to highlight, some underline, and some both. Highlighting was all we knew for years until recently some have come to love underlining. It takes more time to underline, but it looks “cleaner.”
For highlighting, Sharpie Gel Highlighters are the favorite (Amazon links in this post are Titus2’s Amazon’s Affiliate link, and Titus2 earns from qualifying purchases, see the Privacy Policy). For underlining Pigma Micron 01 (.25mm tip) is wonderful. Black is primary, but they come in an assortment of colors. We have experimented with various items for the straightedge. If the Bible column is three and a half inches or less, old credit cards work well although they are quite stiff. Steve prefers flexible plastic templates because they contour with the page nicely. We haven’t cared for small metal rulers as they are abrasive against the pen’s tip.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).
I found highlighters that are colored pencils – great for thinner page Bibles (no bleed through of ink from one side of a page to the other).
They’re sold in Amazon as “Dry Bible Highlighting Kit” from G.T. Luscombe Co. They come in pink, blue, yellow and green and have refills. We love them!
I’m going to try the pens you mention – I’ve been looking for something better than I currently have for underlining and note taking.
Thanks for sharing,
Lea
I have some like that Lea. I believe from looking at them they are a little like crayons. Would that be accurate?
I just use Crayola Colored pencils. They also don’t bleed through. I draw a box around the entire verse. I draw it kind of dark. Then I lightly color in the box. When I want to write notes in my Bible, I will write in ink pen, usually at the top or bottom of the page. For example, I will write “12:23- (chapter 12 verse23) my notes……” and then put the date. I don’t have a lot of space to write notes so it is usually one sentence of how God is speaking to me through that verse. I also love all the different colors that colored pencils come in!!! 🙂
Great ideas.
I like the “Hi-gliders”. I do pink for women and family verses, purple for prayers and praise (example: Philippians 4:6-7 and Psalm 150), blue for character/good examples/commandments, red for sin and warnings, green for blessings and promises, yellow for salvation, orange for Messianic prophecies and their fulfillments, and gray for those used in studies, sermons, and devotions (I’ll highlight the verse and then write in a quote from the book or sermon). I now have quite a colorful Bible! 🙂
Wow, so great you decided on a color-coded system for your verse highlighting and have been using it.
I’ve always had a hard time writing in my Bible (or any books, for that matter). For some reason, I’ve always wanted to keep them pristine … or maybe it’s the perfectionist in me that is afraid of my highlighting or underlining not being perfect. However, my thinking is starting to change after looking through one of my dad’s Bibles. He passed away 18 years ago and I still miss him terribly, but seeing his notes in the margins and reading the verses he felt were important enough to underline have meant the world to me. It’s like he left part of his heart with me.
That’s so sweet, daybreaking. I can see how precious your dad’s words in his Bible would be to you, seeing it written in his own handwriting and then to have the verses highlighted or underlined that he loved and used.