Yet Another Bible Journaling Article!

The pictures flood my Pinterest and Facebook feeds. From simple doodles to elaborate works of art, women everywhere are coloring in their bibles and sharing the pictures on social media. "Bible journaling" is a trend I never could have imagined a few years ago. At first, I had the slightest feeling that bible journaling was just a trendy idea, and even a gimmick to sell different types of bibles. I even had the fleeting thought that it might be disrespectful to draw all over the words of scripture. I’m writing this article because I’m confident that those little thoughts were wrong, and I want to explore the idea of our creative nature.

While I still haven’t tried bible journaling for myself (I hope to soon!), it occurred to me that anything that encourages people to spend time in the Word is A GOOD THING! I also realize that we revere the words of scripture and the author, God, but we don’t worship the physical pages of the book. Taking the Word and incorporating it into a beautiful image only serves to exalt the truth of scripture. When someone takes time to think about how to translate an idea from scripture into a visual representation, they are really meditating on the Word and its meaning.

I also realized that bible journaling may accomplish the same thing for some people as writing does for me. Sometimes I’m drawn deeper into studying the Word because I want to write about a certain topic. My desire to write pushes me to study scripture. I imagine that the enjoyment one gets from creating an artistic journal entry in their bible is a catalyst for more frequent study.

From his book “About You”, author Dick Staub writes, “Every human has the capacity to make things, to create, because we are all made in the image of a creative God.” Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”. The desire to create has been made in us.

I found another beautiful quote from the book “Heart Steps” by Julia Cameron. She writes, “We are ourselves creations. We are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves. This is the God-force extending itself through us. Creativity is God's gift to us. Using creativity is our gift back to God.”

I have some friends who seem to have found great enjoyment from creating artwork in their bibles. And, I’m excited to share some of their creations here with you. I am so inspired by these ladies! Be sure to click through or play both slideshows.

Renee told me, "Bible journaling has been an amazing experience that allows me to completely concentrate and experience the Word of God in a way I never imagined."  You can find the bible she uses here.

Do you enjoy bible journaling?  What does it mean to you?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
 
Bible journaling seems to be an activity mostly women enjoy.  Are there any men out there that do it? 
 
Please also share any advice you might have for someone, like me, who wants to start bible journaling.  Thanks!

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