A word about the free trial version: After the 30 days is up, it will still work as an offline KJV reader with all your annotations intact and usable. The only new limitation is that you cannot make new annotations (and you still cannot import data). If you want to continue making annotations, all you need to do is export your data, purchase the full version, and import your data to the full version.

You know how we tend to reach for an electronic device whenever we have a spare moment? Let’s use that habit to our advantage. Instead of reading the latest on Twitter, review the high points of your most recent Bible reading to refresh it in your mind!

The Bible frequently stresses the importance of remembering. (Ex 17:14, Num 15:38-40, Josh 4:5-7, Matt 16:9, Luke 17:32, Luke 22:19, Phil 3:1, 1 Cor 4:17, 2 Pet 1:12-15, 3:1, Jude 1:17 are a few).

But a few hours after I do my Bible reading, I’ve forgotten most of it, because the activities of the day overwhelm it. This is why I wrote Bible Annotator. It provides several different strategies to keep my Bible reading fresh not just for hours, but indefinitely.

Here’s how it works: I usually read a paper parallel Bible that contains KJV and Amplified (Classic). If you like reading KJV on an electronic device, you can do your reading directly on Bible Annotator. While I’m reading the paper Bible, when something stands out and I want to make a note (or stars, tags, or links), I make the note in Bible Annotator. I’ll make a number of annotations – or refresh the old annotations in the chapters that I’m reading – in any reading session.

Then when I have one of those moments & I pull out my device to look at it, I open Bible Annotator, and the most recent annotations pop up. I can scroll through them and review the major points of the most recent reading in a few moments. This is well worthwhile in itself, but now that the annotations are in an electronic database instead of on paper, a whole new world of possibilities opens up. Like tagging and linking.

E.g. in John 5:44 Jesus indicates that a person who is not seeking honor from God does not really believe. And since belief determines our eternal destiny, it is critical to know how to seek honor from God. So whenever I find a passage where a person gains honor from God, or where God indicates who He will honor, I ‘tag’ that passage with “Honor from God”.

I have many tags for different topics and ideas, all of which are designed to help my spiritual life and growth. By tagging annotations, and reviewing those tags occasionally, you can come to a much better understanding of how God sees our relationship with Him rather than relying on our own understanding, which clearly can be flawed. Tags are part of my annotations, and while it’s important to read the Bible in its linear form, it is also extremely valuable to read it in a form where all passages that clarify a particular idea can be grouped together in one spot – which is what tagging does for you. You will probably also find increased motivation to read, because in creating annotations, tags, links, and stars, you are not just gaining from that day’s reading, but you are also building a resource that you can use for years to come. It’s kind of like mining gold. It’s exciting to find it, but better yet when you can keep it.

What about linking? Often one passage relates to another, but they are separated by books, chapters, and years. Linking lets you see the linked passages simultaneously. Reading the gospels for example, and finding the multitude of fulfilled prophecies about Jesus (especially from Isaiah and the Psalms) helps you really understand “in the volume of the book it is written of me” (Psalm 40:7/Hebrews 10:7). Creating the links is very educational in itself. Then having them handy to click on whenever you come across them makes it more likely that you will read the linked passages than if you have to flip pages back