My Bible Investment

The Word Made Flesh

Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). At Holy Mass, we get to experience this mystery. Firstly, there is the Liturgy of the Word, which typically includes a reading from the Old Testament, a psalm, a reading from the New Testament, and then a reading from one of the four Gospels. Then, there is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, in which the Word becomes flesh.

If therefore, the Word is so important, I have reasoned that I must put my time, energy, and even money into studying the Bible, praying with the Bible, and living my life according to the Bible. Those who know me agree that I am very frugal with my money and I hate making any sort of investment. Yet, the Bible has become so important to my life, that I decided I would invest in it. It is a treat! A fun way to pray! An inspiration!

The Bible Timeline Chart

Have you heard of The Great Adventure Bible Timeline Chart? It is a “Chronological Portrayal of Salvation History” and is published by Ascension Press. This timeline is absolutely changing my life! It was designed by Jeff Cavins and Sarah Christmyer. They take the Bible and divide it into twelve periods beginning with the Early World and Patriarchs, and ending with the Messianic Fulfillment and the Church.

I have spent hours going through this timeline as I try to piece together Sacred Scripture. The timeline includes the different books of the Bible and arranges them: 14 are labeled as “Narrative” books and the other 59 books of the Bible are labeled as “Supplemental” books. Not only this, but the timeline includes the secular history and world power that was at work during each period so I can see salvation history and secular history line up together.

The Bible in a Year Podcast

 To further my study of the Bible, I took a recommendation to begin listening to The Bible in a Year podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz from Ascension. I quickly learned that Fr. Mike read specifically from the Great Adventure Bible, which is from the same publisher as The Great Adventure Bible Timeline Chart. While enjoying these episodes, I decided to invest in my own Great Adventure Bible. To my delight, it brought the Timeline Chart to life. For example, the notes on the Timeline Chart for the book of Genesis are marked specifically within the Great Adventure Bible and are further explained and expanded upon. Not to mention, I enjoy looking at charts and maps that help make the story of salvation more real. You can get the Great Adventure Bible at https://ascensionpress.com/pages/the-great-adventure.

Accompanying Books

Then, there are a couple of books that I bought to accompany the Bible. One was the St. Joseph Atlas of the Bible by Tim Dowley to further my understanding of Sacred Scripture by the use of maps and charts. It has helped make the Bible visible to me.

Ascension Press also has accompanying books for the Great Adventure Bible. One of them that I have used is called Walking with God: A Journey Through the Bible. This book coincides with the Great Adventure Bible and Timeline Chart and takes the simple organization of the Bible and really expounds upon it. This book was required for a Sacred Scripture class that I took in college. It accompanied me as I read the “big, scary,” Bible, and broke it down in an easy way to understand.

The Fun Investments

It is not that purchasing the Timeline, Great Adventure Bible, Walking with God, and atlas were not fun investments for my stingy self. They were super helpful. But, I admit, the most fun thing for me was to get special Bible highlighters and pens, as well as Bible indexing tabs. With the highlighters, I have four colors, so I planned out which highlighter would go with which topic. Blue is for my novels and novellas that I am writing. Orange is for personal verses that touch me. Green is for research purposes. Yellow is for writing my articles and devotionals, such as writing this article.

Most recently, I bought Bible indexing tabs that label each book of the Bible. I would not say that it was a necessary investment, but it is a cool, fun, and helpful investment for me to get to my biblical books quicker and easier.

What do I do with it?

Prayer and study. Study and prayer. For example, I look at the Daily Mass Readings and pray Lectio Divina with those readings (praying with Scripture through imagination and conversation with the Lord through a series of meditative steps). As I pray, I tend to learn, even if it is just through little tidbits.

Once, I prayed with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I came across the word “down,” in the passage. The verse was, “Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho…’” (Luke 10:30). The word “down” stood out to me, because in my studies, I have learned that Jews would go “up” to Jerusalem, even if geographically, they were going down. I just noted in my prayer that the man going down from Jerusalem was not literally going south, but was going northeast toward Jericho.

Something to Invest In

If you have not gotten my point until now, I will write it plainly. The Bible is worth investing in. You do not have to go as obsessive as me, but the supplemental materials that I just listed are a few ideas to make the Bible easier to read, understand, study, and pray. This is the Word of God we are talking about. May the Word that is made flesh change your life!