NIV Essentials Study Bible

                                         

                    The NIV Essentials Study Bible 

                           My Rating: 5/5 Stars 

                            Publisher: Zondervan 

                   Release Date: November 26th 2013  

                          Buy the Bible: Zondervan /Amazon

About This Study Bible(From Zondervan product page): This easy-to-access hardcover Bible explores Scripture through multiple lenses, helping you to quickly and easily grasp the essentials of God’s Word. Using six unique lenses, each of which offers a different way to view and learn from Scripture, you’ll discover an entirely new way to read God’s Word. Because everyone encounters God’s Word differently, as you read you will discover which lenses provide you with the clearest understanding, allowing you to tailor your exploration of the Bible.

I must admit, I jumped at the opportunity to study and review this beautiful study Bible. I've always loved finding new ways to explore my favorite book and so to be able to read through one that contains some of the best resources from six bestselling NIV resources was a no-brainer for me. I was even more ecstatic when I received it and started paging through immediately. Unlike some Bibles I've encountered that have pages so thin that they will often break at the lightest touch,  the pages in the NIV Essentials Study Bible are really quite sturdy. Yes, they're still thin but that is to be expected in something with as many pages as this gorgeous Bible! The next test I always give a Bible is the size of the text, I like to be able to easily see the words on the page and not have to strain my eyes to study God's word. In this Bible, I can easily do so. The best thing about this Bible, though, is all of the amazing features within. You can read all about those and my thoughts on them below.

Features:

• Flyover Lens: The Flyover Lens was adapted from The Essential Bible Companion and is a book introduction for each book of this Bible. It contains all sorts of cool things such as an overview/summary of the book, key concepts and focuses, key verses that are ones you should remember or think about while reading, key teachings in a nice little bullet style fashion that lists some of the main points and observations we learn about in each chapter, and key terms that help you understand the vocabulary or to use for easy reference while reading. There are also handy little pictures, timelines and wonderful maps adapted from the NIV Quest Study Bible. I loved this section as it's great to have a nice overview before diving right in.
• Unpack Lens: This feature was adapted from the NIV Study Bible and is described as a more traditional approach to Bible study. There are verse by verse explanations and find how the events and truths of the Bible fit together. I found that this lens really add to the Bible and I loved reading them as I flipped through the pages. 
• Dig Deep, Look Close Lens: This fascinating lens was adapted from the NIV Archaeological Study Bible. There are articles and photos that fall into these main categories: reliability of the Bible, artifacts, archaeology, history and history of people. There are also references to the incredible full color maps in the back of the book. I found these definitely added to the text and I enjoyed the comparisons some of them provided as far as what life was like during Biblical times. 
• Q&A Lens: This is a really neat lens where commonly asked questions about the Bible are answered in a clear and well thought out manner that I really enjoyed.
• People in Focus Lens: Using notes adapted from the NIV Student Bible, the People in Focus lens allows you to view and examine scripture through the stories of those considered to be some of the most important people of the Bible. I enjoyed these, and liked the Life Questions it sometimes included, the questions related wonderfully to the Biblical text and helped add an additional layer of thought and reflection to the Bible as you're reading. 
• Guided Tour Lens: Excerpted from the NIV Student Bible, the guided tour lens gives a "bird's-eye view" of the entire Bible. This is another nice little feature reminiscent of the People in Focus lens in the way that they also include Life Questions and add an interesting element to the Bible reading.  
• Insight Lens: Described as being written like a magazine article, Insights are adapted from the NIV Student Bible and provide important background information that is condensed nicely so that you can more easily form your own judgements on the text. Those handy Life Questions come into play again and help you relate the passage or verse to real-life day-to-day situations. 
• R&R(Reflect and Respond) Lens: Sort of like a devotional, these give you a quick inspirational focus time as seen in The Great Rescue, NIV. I really love these, perhaps one of my favorite elements. They mainly have four sections, read, think, and live, along with next level which tells you what page to turn to for your next devotional.
• Subheadings: Although not really listed as one of the main features, I like the little subtitles throughout the Bible that allows you to easily find the section you're searching for and creates a more organized appearance within the text. 
• Table of Weights and Measures: An extremely handy tool, this page allows you to better compare weights and measures in the Bible so that you can understand how much the weight or measurement would equal in what we measure with today(American equivalent and Metric equivalent).
• Reading Plans: Some really fun sounding reading plans that give you different ways to explore the Bible. There is a one year plan, a 60 day overview, 20 Not-So-Famous Bible Stories, 30 Days of Great Faith, and 30 Days With Jesus. 

My Thoughts: As you can see, there are lots of outstanding features in this Bible, most all of which I really loved. The NIV Essentials Study Bible is one that I wholeheartedly recommend. Though the text is plenty large and the pages are sturdy, there is so much within this compact study Bible, and I cannot wait to explore it more and see what else I come up. I plan on following some of the suggested reading plans and posting my thoughts on them eventually, so stay tuned! Oh, and definitely go out and purchase this Bible if given the chance, it would make a great Christmas present!

**I received this Bible for review from the publisher via BookSneeze, but this in no way affected my review or opinion.**