This guy named Dillon Burroughs wrote out the entire Bible, verse by verse, over a period of 899 days. Here’s what he says of the experience, “The reason from the start was to invest time in Scripture in a fresh and powerful way. This goal was certainly achieved. I feel much closer to God now than ever before and often sensed God’s presence at work in my life in powerful ways during these extended times in Scripture.” Pretty amazing feat, I'd say. Guess what he did when he finished? He started over. To date, he has two complete sets of the Holy Bible in notebooks on his shelf. What?
The concept of writing out scripture as a discipline dates back to the days of the early kings of Israel. In Deuteronomy there are specific instructions regarding the duties of a king. “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19) So basically, a king was to write out a copy of the law to keep with him all the time instead of only hearing it from the priests. Of course, they did not have the benefit of the printing press at that time... or the Google. But, even with our multiple streams of access to the Bible, if we only consume what we are fed from the hand of the priest/pastor, then maybe we aren't fearing/revering the Lord our God as we should. If we do not know the Word, how will we keep the Word? Maybe ole' Dillon is not far off the mark.
Now, I'm not Dillon-level with my scripture writing but I have written out several books from the Old and New Testament - starting with James. Beth Moore made me do that one. And it was really meaningful. I'm part of a small group of women who have been meeting on Monday nights for I don't know how many years now. The gathering has changed over time but remains the thing that gets me through more days that I can count. There is a high level of trust among this crew. We have been through deep waters together. We have prayed and seen answers that are ridiculously generous. We have prayed and there has been silence. We have wept on the floor so much that a new rug was necessitated. (Probably not all tear-related but surely a contributing cause.) We have snort-level laughed and sang everything from operatic hymn arrangements to recording-worthy renditions of Bringing in the Sheaves. We wake up every morning to a group-text from a faithful sister who gets us all going. We have studied under teachers such as Beth, Priscilla (Shirer), Matt (Chandler), Andy (Stanley) , Lysa (Terkeurst)... and we have written scripture together. If you haven't done this - formed a laughing-crying-band of praying-studying-texting-friends and/or written scripture, I highly recommend. Both.
If writing out whole chapters or books seems a little intimidating, few verses at a time is a great way to start. A while back I found this wonderful Scripture writing guide for the Christmas season from Sweet Blessings - a blog by Shannon Long. www.sweetblessings.com. (see below) The Monday prayer-warrior-princesses are doing this exercise together starting in a couple of days. And while it is not possible to add new members to our weekly meetings, we welcome one and all to join us in this December plan. Maybe gather/challenge a few pals to do it with you. If it turns out to be a meaningful practice, Shannon has similar plans for other seasons. And pop on over to her website to say thanks.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. King David's Psalm 119:105 - maybe inspired by his handwritten copy?? Selah.
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