Like many people, several years ago I really got into the digital craze. I got my first iPhone was given an iPad. I love using these devices. From everything from keeping up with my mileage, expenses, reminders and my calendar. They were very helpful. I began to read my bible from my devices and wrote notes on my iPad or iPhone bible app. It was like a one-stop shop for my life. Everything I needed was on my devices.
But something strange happened to me spiritually. I began to dry up. The biblical awareness that I had when I was younger seemed to lapse and my ability to memorize or remember what I had read started to leave me. Finding cross-references began more arduous and the use of Scripture began to slowly leave my soul as well. Over the years, I had asked the Lord to help me with a solution to this. I originally believed much of my challenge was age and busy-ness. So I thought this was the natural process of getting older and dismissed my lack of spiritual clarity on the “crazy-busy” seasons of life.
However, a few months ago I began to sense a nudge from the Lord to revive writing in a journal and reading a paper Bible. Part of my reasoning was because as I considered my spiritual journey, I realized that much of my growth through the years came when I was writing thoughts and ideas down from the Bible passages I was reading. So I thought that I should go back to this practice and see how the Lord would meet me. Here’s what I have found: I have found a refreshed love for God’s word as I have meditated on it more slowly. I have found that as I write down (with a pen) the thoughts that come from a particular Bible passage, I have an elevated love for God and I remember what it more easily. I have found a renewed eagerness to read and think about God’s word. I have found a renewed “crispness” in my thinking and a renewed ability to cross-reference Bible passages more easily.
Now, I do not think that this is an “every person” answer but it might be one that’s helpful to some. If you find yourself a tad dry or maybe a little weary of reading your Bible, why not take out a pen, a journal and a real-life leafy paper Bible and open it and write about it? I pray that it will encourage you like it has me.
