This holiday season has been a whirlwind of presents, parties, and food. I have had days of doing absolutely nothing, but I've also had long stretches of non stop activity. We still go to so many different family Christmas parties, and get to see all our old friends that come into town for the holidays that everyday there is something going on. Now that the holidays have slowed down, I've gotten to spend a substantial amount of time enjoying one of my favorite gifts from Christmas. Daniel and I usually go all out for Christmas, but with a baby on the way we decided to save money. My absolute favorite, and pretty inexpensive gift from him was the She Reads Truth Bible. When I saw this come out a few months ago I made Daniel look at it with me online multiple times hoping he'd get the hint! Now that I've fallen even more in love with it, I wanted to share how amazingly beautiful it is in case you are wanting a new Bible.
On the Surface
I'm going to start off pretty superficially because let's be real, I like pretty things. This Bible is pretty, and that's what has attracted so many of us to She Reads Truth. This obviously isn't the reason I spend time in scripture, but it's a reason I chose this Bible. They actually give an amazing explanation of why they spend so much time on the visual appearance at the beginning of the Bible. "This Bible is out humble attempt to honor the inherently beautiful gospel with the aesthetic beauty it deserves."A main highlight of the simple beauty of this Bible is it's hardback cover. It's simple and contemporary. It's not busy and covered in florals that you will grow out of, or plain leather that cracks and ages over time. It's sturdy, wipes clean, and won't be bent or scuffed like leather. I previously had a leather Bible and my dog ate it... I'm hoping that a hardcover discourages that.
Another beautiful aspect is the color coding based on genre. This adds multiple color schemes throughout the Bible, but it also has a specific purpose. It separates the Old Testament into the Pentateuch (laws), Historical (account of Israel), Wisdom & Poetry (philosophical literature), Major Prophets (messages from God), and Minor Prophets (messages from God). The New Testament is separated into the Gospels (life of Jesus), Church History (early church), Pauline Epistles (letters by Paul), General Epistles (specific responses to circumstances), and Apocalyptic (prophecy on the end times). These distinctions help you understand the theme of the book you are reading rather than just blindly beginning a book. No shame if you don't care about genres because most people probably don't, but this color coding does provide beautiful colors throughout the Bible!
The most breathtaking part of the Bible are the key scripture verses at the beginning of each book. I want to take a picture and share it every time I start a new book because they're so beautiful. The goal of the scriptures is to choose a passage from each book that helps to "represent the complete arc of scripture". There was a purpose behind each verse chosen, and the art that accompanies it. God is the ultimate creator which inspires His creation to be creative as well. Scripture accompanied by art speaks to the soul. An idea that I recently had, but haven't began is to memorize the key verses while I'm going through that book. Just memorizing those key verses would be an amazing start to a lifelong habit.
Going Deeper
Although this Bible is attractive on the outside, it has so many other features that make it an incredible study Bible. The first question I had before ordering it was what translations are available? Sadly they only offer one option, which is the Christian Standard Bible. I had never heard of it before. Apparently it's a really new translation, that falls somewhere between The Message and NIV. You can read comparisons at this link here to get a feel for the difference between the version you're used to. I grew up with a NKJV bible... that I never read. As soon as I accepted Christ I switched to ESV, and loved that translation all through my Bible classes in college. I was weary of switching to a version that I hadn't heard of, and that I couldn't hear a lot of feedback on because nobody I know has it yet. Despite all those concerns, it's a great translation. Easy to understand, but an accurate translation that isn't watered down.
She Reads Truth came up with some incredible reading plans that accompany each book, and a year long plan for the entire Bible. I considered started the year long plan for the new year, but honestly felt like it was too much with a baby on the way. Does that sound terrible? The plan is a little overwhelming because it requires that you read 4 chapters a day from different books of the Bible. I'm more of a one track mind type person. I prefer to read through an entire book rather than skip around, or read multiple books at a time. Also, four chapters a day would definitely cause me to read for completion rather than comprehension (hear my teacher self coming out). Realistic expectations are what keep me from getting burnt out and behind on plans. Plus I don't think God has ever been like "Hey you should have read the whole bible is 365 days instead of 892 days". I'm laughing just saying that because I know that God is pleased when we spend time with Him and in His word, not that we completed some devotional, plan, or memorized x amount of verses. All that to say that I prefer the reading plans that come with the beginning of each book. They break the book into chapters and verses to read within a week. It's less strict because it only gives you 5 sections for each week, and they're broken down into 1ish chapters each. That means each books takes a completely different amount of time to finish. For example, Hebrews would take about 3 weeks because it's 13 chapters. While 1 Timothy would only take 1 week because it's 6 chapters. The other awesome part about these reading plans is that it has a "Going Deeper" section with extra scripture that is either directly quoted or reinforces what was said in that chapter to read as well. This is awesome if you're really interested in a topic, or just want even more time in the word. These reading plans are a lot more manageable, and slow things down. I already love doing these reading plans because it's a great pace to really take your time reading the scripture, and then meditating on it.
Having devotionals throughout the Bible was very appealing to me because I always buy devotional studies, but never make it through the entire thing at once. I go back to my devotionals at different times through out the year depending on what type of season I'm in. The concept of having devotionals built in throughout my Bible had never occurred to me, but it's such an encouragement. Usually every few chapters of a book there will be a devotional positioned perfectly to encourage you to go deeper with what you've read. These are also written towards young women as the primary audience, so they really relate to me.
As a history major and biblical studies minor, I love understanding historical background, context, and where everything fits on the timeline. I get so much more out of scripture if I truly understand the when, why, and who's of a book. She Reads Truth provides a timeline at the beginning of each book that gives a detailed look at where that book falls in history. It also gives the historical background in a short summary that doesn't overload you with information, but really does put the whole book into context. It also summarizes the "Message & Purpose" of the book. This is honestly the most important part of scripture. What is God's message to me, us, the church through this book? She Reads Truth leads you to better understand God's message, and His purpose behind it. This bible also provides the significant maps needed to understand the historical locations of the New and Old Testaments. It has maps scattered throughout the books that highlight key geographical locations that relate to the time you're reading about. This is another aspect that might not interest everyone, but it definitely doesn't hurt to understand where events occurred.
I feel blessed that Daniel gifted this Bible to me for Christmas. It's one of those gifts that becomes more and more meaningful over time. If you are interested in ordering this bible I suggest using Amazon because at this point everyone has Amazon Prime free shipping, right? Use my link here, or below to order yours! I promise you won't regret it.
xoxo,
kelsey
