Bible Reading Plans

Part one

I try to keep these short enough to be read in a minute or two. This one turned out to be a little longer, so I am dividing it into two parts. One today and one tomorrow.

People often make New Year’s resolutions or consider goals and changes they want to make in the next year. One thing I hope you will not overlook is your devotional life. One of the important factors in your spiritual growth and development is the consistent intake of the Word of God. The biblical analogy for the Word is it is like our daily bread. We are nourished and strengthened spiritually like we are physically; by taking in nourishing food.

One of the things people struggle with is coming up with a system that helps them get a well-rounded spiritual diet and one that helps them stay consistent throughout the year. Thankfully, numerous Bible reading plans are available as tools to help us in this area of life. There is no right or wrong plan. There are pros and cons to each of them. The most important element in choosing a plan is picking one that works for you by helping you stay consistent and engaged. A well-designed plan won’t do you any good if you don’t follow it.

I have tried several different Bible reading plans over the 40+ years of my Christian life. Several years ago, I settled on a method that works for me. It is simple and allows me to read through the whole Bible consistently. Beginning in Genesis, I read one chapter a day from the Old Testament (not including Psalms and Proverbs it takes almost 2 years to read the whole Old Testament); beginning in Psalm chapter one, I read one chapter a day from Psalms (this means I will read through Psalms about twice a year); beginning in Proverbs chapter one, I read one chapter of Proverbs every day (this means I read through Proverbs once a month and some months I skip chapters 30 and/or 31); and beginning in Matthew chapter one, I read one chapter a day in the New Testament (this means I will read through the New Testament about every 10 months).

To keep track of where I am at, I just use ribbons in the Bible I use for my daily Bible reading. The Bible I use came with one ribbon, I glued three more into the spine and used them to mark where I am in each of the areas I am reading from. The advantage of this is its simplicity. I don’t have to use a printed sheet to keep track of my progress. The ribbons do the job for me. It also gives me a good overview of Scripture.

Other things that have helped me in this include using a Bible designated for my daily Bible reading. By doing this, it is kept in the same place all the time (for me that is on my desk at home). I never have to go looking for it. It also means it is clutter-free. There aren’t sermon notes or church bulletins to distract me. Whatever markings or notes I make in it are only from my devotional reading.

While that is what has worked for me, it might not be the best plan for you. Tomorrow I will share several other Bible Reading Plans. This will include links that will take you to sites that will give you the plan in detail, often with PDF printable schedules to use.