The Bible wasn’t sinking into my heart. I could go about my day without time in the Word as long as I was cherry-picking verses out when I needed something from God. (Facebook is a good place to find inspirational verses, right?) I’d read a page or two in a Bible study. Write some things down. Pray. And that was it. I didn’t go deeper.
Then, my dad was diagnosed with leukemia. When the crisis hit, it caused me to see that I had been coasting in my spiritual journey for many years. I realized God was only as deeply embedded in my heart as the troubles I wanted him to fix. But no more. No more reading the Bible without really getting it. No more doing devotions just because I think I should. I wanted to need to. I wanted to surrender and be taught by the Holy Spirit. And when I opened up to my best friend about it, she said, “Kristy, why don’t you try verse mapping?”
“I realized God was only as deeply embedded in my heart as the troubles I wanted him to fix. But no more.”
What is VERSE MAPPING?
Verse Mapping is a method of studying the historical context, transliteration, translation, connotation, and theological framework of a verse in the Bible. Plain and simple? Verse mapping is getting real about studying the Bible. All of it. It’s not just reading. It’s researching everything you can in a verse to learn more about who God is and how He wants to speak to you through His Word.
The process is simple.
- Verse: Select and write your verse to map.
- Design: Write your verse in two to four different translations, and identify key words.
- Develop: Look up key words in Hebrew/Greek. Write down definitions, synonyms, and root words. Discover any underlying meaning in the verse and note it.
- Actions: Research and document the people, places, and the context. Ask: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Note connections to other concepts in Scripture you find in your research.
- Outcome: Write a summary of what you’ve learned. Anchor the verse you mapped to your life. This is the treasured truth the map brought you to.
That’s it—five simple steps to change-your-life study time with God! All set? Let’s map.
Kristy Cambron is an award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling debut The Butterfly and the Violin, and an author of nonfiction, including the Verse Mapping Series Bibles and Bible studies. Kristy’s work has been named to Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, and received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons. You can connect with her at: kristycambron.com and versemapping.com.