How to Use a Bible Journal to Go Deeper in God’s Word

I’ve read through the entire Bible three times now. The first time took me two years — I had a baby, I was reading three or four chapters a day, and honestly, that pace was what made it possible. But here’s what I’ve noticed every single time I read through it: you see something you didn’t see before. Every time! If you’ve ever wondered how to use a Bible journal to go beyond simply checking off chapters, you’re not alone.What’s changed the most, though, isn’t how many times I’ve read it. It’s how I read it now — and that’s the difference a Bible journal actually makes.

Reading Alone Is Easy to Lose

Here’s the honest truth about just reading: your eyes move across the page, but your mind wanders. Thoughts about your to-do list, your kids, a text you need to send — they creep in even when you’re trying to focus on Scripture. You finish the chapter, and if someone asked you five minutes later what you just read, you might struggle to say much more than the general idea.

That’s not a failure of discipline. That’s just what happens when you’re only reading.

What Changes When You Write As You Read

This time through, I’m doing something different — reading and journaling in the same sitting, sometimes even turning what I’ve written into a devotional afterward. And I’ve noticed: when you write something down, you remember it. Not eventually. Immediately.

A recent morning made that so clear to me. I was reading through Proverbs, underlining as I went and journaling alongside it in the Cover to Cover Bible Journal. One verse stood out: “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath” (Proverbs 15:1). I wrote it down. I even wrote it on my hand that day.

That single verse followed me through the rest of the day — into a moment with my kids, into a conversation with a friend, even into something on the screen at church. I kept coming back to it, repeating it to my children over the next few days, watching them memorize it faster than I expected. And I know, without question, that never would have happened if I’d just read the passage, nodded, and moved on to the next day’s checkbox.

Why This Matters More Than Just “Finishing”

Going deeper isn’t about reading more chapters faster. It’s about giving a verse enough weight in your mind that it actually shapes your day — your parenting, your conversations, your patience in a hard moment. When you journal as you read, Scripture stops feeling like a story you’re getting through and starts feeling like something alive, something that keeps showing up in your actual life hours after you closed the book.

That’s the difference between reading the Bible and meditating on it.

How to Actually Do This

If you want to start going deeper instead of just getting through more, here’s what that can look like in practice:

• Underline or mark as you read — not everything, just what stops you.
• Write the verse down somewhere it’ll follow you — your journal, your hand, your phone lock screen.
• Journal your response in real time, not after the fact when the moment’s already faded.
• Repeat it out loud — to yourself, to your kids, in a prayer later that day.
• Watch for it to show up again — in a conversation, a sermon, a random moment. It usually does.

Where the Cover to Cover Bible Journal Fits In

This is exactly why the journal was built with space to write as you go, not just check off what you’ve completed. The goal was never to help you finish the Bible faster. It was to help you actually carry it with you — into your parenting, your relationships, your ordinary Tuesday.

→ Preorder yours today — shipping mid-August. No dates, no deadlines, no guilt. Just you and God’s Word, at your pace, for as long as it takes.

Amanda Stores

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