Writing the Word--My Devotional Experiment

My friend Anna asked women to join her in a one-month Scripture writing schedule. I did, for the month of July. Here are some of my thoughts and conclusions about copying the Bible as a devotional exercise.

Cons

Can there be any cons about Scripture study of any kind? Not really! My biggest problem was actually doing it. I constantly found myself behind and catching up later. It was hard to carve out extra time every single day to sit and write with a pen in my hand.

Pros

• It’s the nature of the Bible itself, the only living book in the world. For the word of God is quick (Old English for “alive”), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
• By writing the passages, I had to slow down. This is good for meditation (thinking about the Word of God).
• When I wrote the sentences out, I was struck with repetitions. A lot of the passages—all were in Psalms—are written in a poetic mode, and repetition is one of the stylistic ways that God makes a point. I ended up circling and boxing different repeated themes.
• As a result of my marking my writing, I was able to make mental lists. This helped me ingest the Word. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103).
• It also helped me carry the Word with me through the day—the whole point of personal devotions. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:2).

Personal Conclusions

1. I felt like the passages on the schedule I used—usually only three or four verses—were very short for one day’s meditation and disciplining one’s self to sitting down and writing.
2. I would have liked for the passages not to have been jumbled up. For example, I noticed I copied part of Psalm 23 one day and another part of it about a week later. It would have made more sense to do verses 1-3 on the first day and 4-6 on the second, to get the whole passage in context. There were other passages that were similarly broken up. One of the ways we understand the Bible is from its context.
3. Writing out Scripture is an excellent way to actually see and retain what you read. I would love to see it used in an in-depth Bible study. The passage to be studied could be written out, and then the study can guide people through circling, highlighting, etc. the verses, so they can easily see the themes of the whole passage. I know a few Bible study methods use something similar, but the people don’t write the passage out themselves at the beginning.
4. One of the drawbacks of writing the Bible is that many people only use computers and phones today. Others might not write at all. (Several of my friends don’t write, since they didn’t have the opportunity to go to school.) So, there are a few limitations to this method.

Was it a blessing to write Scripture? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Yes! Would I maybe change things up? Again, yes!

If you want to get more out of your devotions, try it. Take familiar passages, like Psalm 1, 19, 23, and 100 to begin with. See for yourself how much you retain and how you begin to see themes and repeated words. You’ll begin to meditate on God’s Word throughout the day.

Try it today!

(A big thank you to Anna. You are an example to me.)