Once again I need to read through the Bible. Without a reading plan, I feel like I am on a boat lost at sea with no sense of which way to go.
I lost track of how many years I failed at the one-year plan of reading straight through the Bible. By the end of March I was so far behind that I quit. Eventually I took the plan and wiped out the one year deadline and just kept grinding away instead of quitting when I got behind. Although the one-year plan became a two-year plan, I did achieve the real goal, not of reading the Bible in a year but of reading it all. It became a joy rather than a drudgery.
I never really liked doing it that way, though. In time, I tried a one-year chronological Bible which put it all in historical context and gave me a way to at least see my bookmark move forward.
This year I found the Read through the Bible Program for Shirkers and Slackers and immediately identified with the name. It’s not a year plan, but it can be done in a year. I get to mark off what I read, which I like, and just work my way through it as long as it takes.
The main reason that I chose this particular plan, however, was because it puts me in different parts of the Bible each day, but the sections are long enough to get some context. It will simply be a different way to do it. And if I want to stay put in some specific verses for a while, there is no deadline.
So if you thought about reading through the Bible but have never been successful, you might think about either a two year program or one like I am doing. Here is a post which outlines a number of choices that I considered before choosing to go with the slackers. I printed 3 out and made my choice on New Year’s Day.
If we truly believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us, we should regularly take in big chunks of it, covering the whole Bible at some point.
It’s never too late to begin the kind of plan I am following, even though it is already January 4–or whenever you read this post. Find a plan that includes grace days or do it that way on your own.
Do you have a program that works for you? Please tell us why you like it!
