I created my own Bible reading plan for 2019.
At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to read through half of the Bible. I wanted to read the 33 books I was least familiar with.
As you might expect, I read through a lot of law, a lot of prophecy, some of the tougher epistles, and Revelation.
As you can imagine, reading law and prophesy was tough! I really had to fight to keep my mind focused. And I will freely admit that 90% of the time I had no idea what the text meant that I was reading.
It made me realize that the vast majority of the Bible is really difficult to read. I would sit there in the mornings reading three chapters a day and really struggle to get any kind of meaning out of it.
So throughout this whole Bible reading experience, I’ve become convinced of one thing:
Reading the Bible a few chapters a day, once a day is not a good way to read the Bible.
At least, it’s not a good way to read the Bible if you actually want to understand what you’re reading.
Don’t get me wrong. I fully and whole-heartedly believe that every word that comes from the mouth of God accomplishes his purpose. It never returns empty (Isaiah 55:11). That means that good things are always happening when we read God’s Word whether or not we understand it.
But I also believe that there are ways to interact with God’s Word that are more profitable than others. And I believe that reading a few chapters a day, once a day is perhaps, for most people, not the most profitable way to read the Bible.
Reconsidering “Read the Bible in A Year”
It’s January. The time for new year’s resolutions and renewed commitment to our Bible reading.
But over the past couple of years, and especially after completing my Bible reading plan last year, I’ve discovered that I’m actually not a big fan of those “Read the Bible in a Year” plans. I’m not a fan firstly because I think, for the average person, they are really hard to keep up with (which is why most people abandon them sometime in February). Secondly, I have found that the “Read the Bible in a Year” plans tend to switch our focus for Bible reading from being a sweet delicacy to be savored and enjoyed to being a task to be accomplished. Don’t get me wrong, reading through the entire Bible is a good and important thing to do. But I’m afraid that with the read the Bible in a year plan, rather than being the living bread for our insatiable hunger, our Bible reading plans become a box to check off our list.
This is what my Bible reading plan became for me last year: something to accomplish, something to be proud to say I did.
And I noticed several things start to happen with this task-oriented approach to Bible reading:
I quickly lost the forest for the trees.
I read Isaiah 3 chapters a day for roughly 22 days (probably a little longer if I missed a few days). I read the whole thing from beginning to end.
I don’t remember any of it. I can’t even give you a general sense of what it says from my solo read-through. When I was knee-deep in chapter 33, I couldn’t, for the life of me, tell you what I had read in chapter 2 or how the chapters in between tied one to another. When you read small sections at a time for a long period of time, you lose the big picture of the book you are reading.
I quickly got bored
Because I couldn’t see the big picture of Isaiah and therefore didn’t understand what I was reading, the text became boring to me (and the Bible is anything but boring!). I read it because I wanted to complete my goal and be able to say that I read it. But without understanding, I swallowed each day’s reading like a pill – something to check off my list.
Without understanding there is no meaning. And without meaning the Bible is boring.
There is probably a way to do the “Read the Bible in a Year Plan” well. But supposing the average person is just like me, the “Read the Bible in a Year Plan” may not be in everybody’s best interest.
I’m going to suggest perhaps a better way to interact with your Bible, to come to your quiet time hungry and leave full, rather than simply reading several chapters a day once a day.
A Simple Plan
Now, I know what your concern is.
Your concern now is this: I just don’t have the time to do anything more than read a couple chapters each day. I even struggle to do that!
I hear you. And I understand.
I also understand that the method of studying the Bible that you often see me promoting can be overwhelming. Studying the Bible inductively is a lot of hard work, but I will never apologize for the amount of work it takes to study the Bible.
The truth is if you really want to know the Bible, if you really want to understand what God’s Word is saying, you need to put in the hard work of studying it. There is no easier, quicker way to really know the Bible. Like all the best things in life, knowing your Bible requires hard work.
However, I think there is a simpler way to get to know your Bible better. A way to read your Bible that is more profitable than reading just a couple of chapters a day. This way requires no special tools. It doesn’t require a lot of extra work. All you need is you and your Bible.
Living with the Text
Before we jump into talking about this simple Bible reading plan, let’s look at what the Bible says about reading the Bible:
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, (John 8:31)
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)
The word abide means to continue, to stay, to dwell. We are to take up residence in the words of God and the words are to take up residence in us.
My Reformation Study Bible says this about the meditation mentioned in Psalm 1:
Hebrew meditation also was not a disengaging of mental activity but involved intellectual engagement with the text of Scripture, hence the association of mediation with the heart/mind1.
These words used to describe how our relationship with God’s Word ought to be paint a picture of living in and doing life with the Bible. This is not reading a couple of chapters every morning just to check it off your Bible-reading plan. This is getting deep into God’s Word and letting it get deep into you.
Just You and Your Bible
That still sounds like it’s going to involve a lot of work doesn’t it? Good Bible study always does. But, throughout my reading of the Scriptures, I have stumbled upon a Bible reading plan that is simple and involves nothing more than you and your Bible.
Here is how the plan works:
Step 1 – Pick a book of the Bible you want to read through
The idea here is to focus on quality not quantity. It is more important that your Bible reading is fruitful than that you read through a certain number of books. Select a book that you haven’t read before and that you’d really like to get to know better. Commit to this book.
Step 2 – Read through it quickly
Plan to read through the book you’ve selected as quickly as possible. Reading through the entire book in one sitting is ideal. But if that is not possible, then break up the book into multiple readings, multiple times throughout the day. Every time you get a free moment throughout the day, pick up your Bible and read the next chapter (or couple chapters) in the book (whoever said your quiet time needs to be once a day? or for a long period of time? or even quiet?). You could try this: every time you pick up your phone to scroll social media throughout the day, read a chapter or two when you’re done. Keep your Bible handy. Don’t let long periods of time pass in between readings or you will lose the big picture and the overall flow of the book you are trying to read. If a long length of time does pass, then start your reading over again from the beginning.
Don’t expect to get a whole lot of understanding out of your first read-through. The book still might not make a whole lot of sense. Things still might seem confusing. You might get bored. But by reading it quickly over a shorter period of time, you will get a better feel for the message of the book as a whole.
Step 3 – Read and reread and reread
Once you’ve completed step 2, do it again. And again. And again. Read it over and over again until it stops being boring and starts becoming meaningful. This is how you abide with the text. It is also how the text begins to abide in you. What didn’t make sense in the first read-through, might make a little more sense on the second or third read-through. For the first couple of re-readings, continue to read quickly in as few sittings as possible. Once you start to get a feel for the book and the flow of the text, then you can slow down your readings and linger over and meditate on each paragraph or chapter. But only slow down to enjoy the trees once you’ve gotten a real feel for the make-up of the forest.
That’s it! Three simple steps to help you have more fruitful Bible readings. The only tool you need is your Bible.
Once you’ve lived in the book and the book has started to live in you, something incredible happens. You go from being bored with the text to falling in love with it. And that love of the text can (and should) fuel an even greater love for its Divine Author.
As a side note, if I were to add one additional (but not entirely necessary) tool to this simple Bible reading plan it would be an outline of the book you are reading. My study Bible provides an outline of each book before the first chapter as well as an overview of the book. I find this really helpful in understanding the overall flow of the text. Another option would be to watch a short video on the book you are reading created by The Bible Project. You can find one video (or sometimes several) for each book of the Bible that gives you an overview of the book. I have found these to be helpful as well. You can access their Youtube channel by clicking here.
Of course, it must be noted, that this is not the only fruitful way to read the Bible. There are a lot of other ways to abide in God’s Word and let it abide in you. I share this method with you because I have found it to be an extremely helpful way to get to know the books of the Bible better. I also love the simplicity of this method and that it does not require a lot of extra work or tools.
If you’ve ever been intimidated by the thought of personal Bible study, if you’ve ever failed at sticking to a Bible reading plan, or if you’ve ever wanted to read the Bible in a more fruitful and meaningful way, give this simple Bible reading method a try.
And may God add his blessing and understanding to your reading of his Word!