Reforming Students

Steve Whitacre, a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church, offers 10 reasons why every teenager should move to the ESV Study Bible. I’ve been using mine daily since I received it over a month ago and think it is absolutely one of the greatest study tools of English-speaking Christiandom to date. I have encouraged my students to use the ESVSB, or to at least put it on their Christmas list at the very top. All the pastors at Ephesus Church have gotten on board with it, and hopefully soon we’ll see a transition throughout the entire congregation!

Here’s Steve’s top 10:

10. Teenagers need durability. This may not mean much to you, but a sewn binding (not glued!) means your ESV-SB should last a long time.  And all Bible paper is thin, but this Bible paper should be thick enough to write notes on John 3 without reading your notes backwards on John 4.  Plus several durable formats.

9. Teenagers need good stuff online. Buy the ESV-SB and you’ll find a code inside that gets you THE ENTIRE study Bible online: notes, maps, charts, everything.  Fully searchable.  Highlight a text and write your own note in the margin; save it and come back to it later! Check out the sample…

8. Teenagers need simplicity. With the ESV-SB, you’ve got thousands of invaluable study aids in one place: notes, maps, diagrams, outlines. It’s like holding an entire reference library in one book.

7. Teenagers need big pictures. And maps.  And charts.  The ESV-SB pictures, maps, and charts are outstanding.  And they are big!  Unlike some other study Bibles, you won’t have to squint to find Jerusalem on these maps.

6. Teenagers need the big picture. You can’t interpret a verse of the Bible rightly without understanding who wrote it, who it was written to, and why.  These introductions give you the background you need.  You can learn about Psalms, Isaiah, Luke, Revelation, and more!

5. Teenagers need teaching. Part of our challenge reading the Bible is bridging the gaps created between us and the original setting by time, distance, culture, and so on.  Every page is loaded with invaluable notes explaining what the Bible actually means, which will help you understand how God is calling you to live for him.

4. Teenagers need to be taught. And it’s best if they’re taught by the best.  The study notes and articles are written by world class scholars, pastors, and Christian leaders.  Some of the names you’ll recognize (John Piper, Wayne Grudem, J.I. Packer, etc.) some you may not (Thomas Schreiner, Ian Duguid, Andreas Kostenberger, etc.), but this is a Dream Team of Biblical scholarship.

3. Teenagers need to learn. The ESV-SB includes hundreds of pages of valuable articles to help you understand how to read your Bible, and how to live in a way that glorifies God.  For instance, you can learn about Reading The Bible.

2. Teenagers need to read their Bibles. The best English translation available has been handed to us in a great one-column book-style text in a reasonably large font is easy on sleepy eyes.  Plus enough margin for notes.  Tolle lege!

1. Teenagers need to know God through Jesus Christ. There is not another single item that you could put on your Christmas list that will better help you know God and grow in your love for Jesus Christ.

Remember:

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 119:7-11 (ESV)