5 Ways to Use Your ESV Journaling Bible

Praying for Open Eyes

Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law. (Psalm 119:18)

Crossway considers it a great joy to connect people with God’s Word in new and exciting ways. When it comes to the Bibles we publish, we work carefully to create supplemental content and design helpful features aimed at shining light on the the biblical text itself. Our hope is that such efforts serve to make room for God to open readers’ eyes to the wondrous things within his Word.

With wide, lined margins for recording notes and reflections, the original ESV Journaling Bible and ESV Single Column Journaling Bible allow readers to interact with Scripture on a personal level. Alternatively, the recently released ESV Journaling Bible, Writer’s Edition provides lined space along the bottom of each page while the ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved Edition boasts a whole blank page beside each page of biblical text.

Our hope is that as you dig into God's Word, reflecting on it's meaning and significance for your own life, you find the ESV Journaling Bible to be a valuable tool that helps you see what God intends for you to see in his Word.

Here are a few suggestions for how to use an ESV Journaling Bible to enrich your study of God’s Word:

1. Utilize extra space to record verse or passage-specific family memories.

Does your family read a certain Scripture together every year on a child’s birthday, or adopt a verse of the year each January? Write notes beside passages that have served as foundational truths for you or your family as a way to track and preserve memories.

2. Use it as a wedding guest book.

Have guests sign a page by a beloved verse, with a personal message or prayer, memorializing this special occasion with a lasting keepsake that you can reference and treasure beyond the wedding.

3. Send a child off to college with notes of encouragement.

Annotate specific passages with prayers of encouragement, and provide a child with reminders of home from the people that love and care for them regularly, even from afar.

4. Engage in the world of art journaling.

Yes, it’s a world! A quick online search will lead you to tutorials, resources, workshops, webinars, Facebook groups, Pinterest boards, and Instagram hashtags inspiring you to create, share, and take part in a growing community centered on Bible art journaling.

5. Start a travelling book club or Bible study using blank space for collaborative note-taking and insight-sharing.

Choose a book of the Bible to study with a group, allowing each member a chance to read and reflect in the margins before passing the Bible along to the next person. Seeing the comments and prayers of others can deepen your own understanding of the biblical text, in addition to deepening your fellowship with other believers.

Browse our full collection of ESV Journaling Bibles today!