I have to confess, I am still casting around for a Bible reading plan that works for me.
Before I was a mommy I would start in Genesis and plow through to Revelation, hopefully finishing on or before December 31, and most years I was successful. This gave me an excellent overview of the Bible. The only thing I did not like about it is that I had to wait until about September to be in the New Testament.
Then I began reading an Old Testament book, a Wisdom Book, a Gospel, and an Epistle before beginning again. And that worked fairly well too, but I did not have that "read in a year" focus, so I don't think that I read as frequently or as much.
This past month I started another plan that has me read 4 chapters a day with the Gospels being read more than once, so I will let you know how that goes. But reading a chapter in Genesis, a chapter in Ezra, a chapter in Matthew and a chapter in Acts each devotional time was making me feel like I was channel surfing through the Bible and was way to discombobulating! So now I am starting with a chapter in Psalms and then reading 4 chapters. In my 4 chapters a day I will first read Genesis (OT book) then read Luke (Gospel) and then read Acts (NT Epistle) before going back and reading Exodus. Once I finish Psalms I will read Proverbs before again returning to Psalms. I have discovered that I am the kind of girl who needs to just spend time in one place at a time in the Bible to be really enriched by what I am reading!
If you are new to the faith or to reading your Bible your goal may be one chapter of the Gospels a day all year, thereby getting a solid understanding. It may be reading through the New Testament this year.
The best Bible reading advice I have ever received, aside from, "This is your Bible, your manual for life, READ IT!" was to pray before I started reading, asking the Lord to teach me something new, to show me a new aspect of Him and of His plan for me, and then write it down.
But whatever your plan, may I encourage you to make a plan and stick to it?
What is your Bible reading plan for 2008?
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3 comments:
Oh yeah, a plan...not to be funny, but it is hard with three little ones to plan my Bible reading. Our church studies the Bible chapter by chapter, book by book (Calvary Chapel) so if I'm not currently in a plan of my own, I read ahead for the next week's message so the ground of my heart is well tilled for whatever seeds our pastor tosses out Sunday. Also, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, so it is simple to read according to the date, reading an extra chapter on the 30th every so often. I think the best advice I ever received was that if my Bible plan was becoming drudgery, toss the plan, keep the habit. In other words, if your "plan" isn't working for you or is making you dread your time in the Word, skip the plan and ask God where He wants to take you...then GO! It's not quantity, but quality, so if you only get one verse or chapter in, but it's quality time with the Lord...well, you get the idea!
Thanks for the reminder to (ahem) have a plan at the ready.
We're finishing the one we started last year where we began in the New Testament and work our way around to the Old Testament. We are almost up to the Psalms now.
I used to try to get the Bible read in a year but then I realized it's not the amount of time it takes you to do it; it's the fact that you are reading your Bible on a consistent (and hopefully daily) basis.
When I came to that realization, reading the Bible became such a joy - I read a bit of every day whether it's a few verses or several chapters. :)
This is the one I used last year. http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html I have also done some of the shorter plans over at Bible Gateway. http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/
I enjoyed the biographical one.
Alice
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