Your Bible is a legacy to those left behind you. The plan of salvation has a place in every Bible. Each Bible is already enough without me. But I think every Bible can be marked with a path to Jesus in it.
Someone taught me how to do this as a teenager so I would have it handy when I may want to share with someone. As I get older, I think about what my children will find when they open the Bible. I want them to see Jesus first. He’s everything to me.
Today, I’m teaching how to do this in my precious Sunday School class, the Abigail class at Sherwood. So, I decided to come back to blogging and write down how I did it so they’d have a copy of what to do if they wanted to go home and do it.
I marked my Warren Wiersbe New Living Translation of the Bible for this blog post.
Step 1: Write in the front of your Bible
A. Look up the page number for Romans 3:23.
B. Write
Go to page _____ (insert page number for Romans 3:23).
C. Write a note to the reader. I’ve written.
Why being a good person is not enough. (Romans 3:23)
(My prayer for my children and descendants is they read and take this to heart.)
I added my name and date I prayed over this.
Step 2: Flip to Romans 3:23
All have sinned.
go to page ___ (insert the page number for Romans 6:23)
Step 3: Flip to Romans 6:23
Sin deserves death. God gave you a way of escape with His gift of life through Jesus. (And many more good things.)
Note to reader: I added that paragraph because faith in Jesus Christ isn’t just out of fear. Faith in Him literally helps you live a better life in every way. More peace. More joy. More purpose. At this point, though that is likely too much to comprehend or write. I could literally write four or five books the size of War & Peace with all the incredible things God has done for me! They just don’t fit in the margins. In the end, while I’m so afraid to not have God and Jesus Christ in my life, it is the joy that fills my heart and makes me sing. But the old “keep it simple” fits here. I trust God to use His Word as only He can to stir the heart and mind of the person who is reading my Bible.
C. Look up the page number for Romans 5:8
D. Write:
Go to page ____ (insert page number for Romans 5:8).
Step 4: Flip to Romans 5:8
Jesus died for you.
C. Look up Romans 10:9-10
D. Write
Go to page ____ (page number for Romans 10:9-10).
Step 5: Flip to Romans 10:9-10
How can I be saved? Romans 10:9-10
Note to Reader: I added the beginning of the verse in pen here because it started at the bottom of the page and I wanted the reader not to miss it.
C. Draw an arrow or note pointing to the next verse Romans 10:13.
Step 6: Romans 10:13
Did God hear me when I asked for forgiveness and believed in Jesus?
Note to Reader: Pray over what to write here. God sees the heart. We also know that we should tell people and connect with other believers. But bottom line, God hears our prayers when we pray to him all along. Just keeping it simple here with God’s word to light the way. This is why you should pray over your marking of this Bible. God knows the words you should use and who will read this Bible one day. Whether in a library or in the hands of a rebel, He knows who will read this.
Now What (and point to Romans 10:17)
C. Add an encouragement here.
Read God’s word. Pray. Get baptized. Tell people!
Note to Reader: You want to point the reader to read God’s word. Some people encourage people to start with Mark. But if we pray to God to let His Holy Spirit guide the person who reads these words, we can trust Him to use His word as He sees fit. This isn’t easy. The Bible is considered highly offensive to so many and it is highly personal to you. But at some point, you will be separated from this Bible of yours. What will it say? Will you leave behind a personal witness to those who come behind?