The Bible

How often do you keep a journal at your side while studying the scriptures? As Latter-day Saints (or Mormons, as so many call us), we love the scriptures. They are sacred to us. As such, we desire to read from them daily.

Perhaps it could be said that just as I can't remember what I ate for lunch nine days ago, scriptural food is as easily perishable. If I'm not recording the spiritual insights, revelations, and promptings I receive during my time each day the Lord's word, I won't later be able to benefit much thereby . . . nor will my children or posterity!

Have you ever thought about the potency of keeping a "scripture journal"? It is a most wonderful thing. The first time I attempted such a feat, I was in college.

As for many, college for me held ups and downs. I felt much comfort each day, therefore, as I read my scriptures. Eventually I found myself keeping two journals - one to record the daily events in my life (i.e. taking a test, going out on a date), in the other smaller journal I recorded the spiritual "happenings" of my life.

Each day while reading the scriptures, I would look for a verse or two that particularly jumped out at me, one that really stuck out in a way that taught me. At the top of the page of my spiritual journal (I called it my "small plates", after the ancient way of keeping records), I would record the verse(s) that had touched me.

After writing them at the top of the page, I then would write about those verses. I would share why they had touched me. Or I would muse on the significance of those verses to me - especially during such a meaningful time in my life. It was not lost on me that I was living during a potent era of my life. So many choices - what to study, where to work, who to marry. The thought of all the choices felt dizzying to me.

And so I would write every day after coming home from college classes - just me there at the kitchen table, with my scriptures laid out in front of me and my two journals.

Years later, I relish those thoughts. Some I chuckle at, some I smile at, and at some I simply nod. All of them were worthwhile thoughts on my part. All of them made a difference. And each page I wrote brought the scriptures deeper into my heart, making those verses become intertwined with who I was.

If you've not yet gotten a "scripture journal," do so today. It can be one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself this year.