How to Read the Bible Like It’s a Coloring Book

A Timeline for Reading the Bible.

Have you ever made it a goal, or New Year’s resolution to read the entire Bible in one year? How’d you do?  I once set out to read the Bible in 90 days. It took me 290 days instead (and I skipped the Psalms). I guess I don’t qualify for the ultra uber Christian award.

It doesn’t matter how fast you read the Bible, what matters is what you get out of it.

My System of Reading the Bible.

I want to make clear that this is not original to me. I did not develop this system. I first learned of this from a friend, who learned from another friend, who… you get the picture. In any case here is the system.

 What You Will Need.

1.    A Bible. It doesn’t have to be a new one. If you are looking for a new one I have included two Bibles I like, at the end of the blog. 

2.    Colored pencils. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple.

What the Colors Mean.

Red: **TAKE HEED or “PAY ATTENTION”**. Underline in red the verses that call you to action. Verses that command you or tell you to do something. Some examples of this are, “Love your neighbor” or “Pray for your enemies”.

Blue: **PROMISES**. Use blue to underline verses that contain a promise. You can also underline verses that give you hope. One example of this is, Lamentations 3v22 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies are new every morning.” (NRSV)

Yellow:(Yellow) **THEOLOGY**. Underline in yellow verses that talk about God, God’s character, doctrines, anything that is ‘theological’ in nature. Some examples of this are Genesis 1v1 “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.(NRSV)” Or the parables in the Gospels when Jesus talks about “The Kingdom of Heaven” would fall under the yellow category.

Green: **PROPHECY**. Underline in green verses that talk about future things. You will find a lot of these throughout the whole bible. One example of this is from Genesis 22v17 when God says to Abraahm, “I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offering as numerous as the stars.” These verse don’t just have to be the end time verses in Revelation.

Purple: **INTERESTING TO YOU.** Purple became my favorite color. I started to underline verses that were interesting but didn’t quite fit in any other category. Then somewhere around Exodus, I started using purple for verses that talked about leadership. Purple is entirely up to you.

Red Underline dash: **DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND.** When you come across a passage that is difficult for you to understand use a red underline dash. This might even be a passage you want to do research on at a later time.