Reading the Bible in a Year

Confession time.  Before 2010, I had never actually read through the entire Bible.  I’m pretty sure that at some point, I had read all of the Bible, but I never made a concentrated effort to read through it all from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.  But, then I challenged the great people at Veedersburg and Hillsboro to do it.

I figured that if I’m going to challenge the people of these churches to do it, then I had better set the example and do it myself.  So, I did.  On December 31, 2010, I finished reading through the entire Bible.  It wasn’t easy to do.  In fact, I’m pretty sure there were days when I just didn’t want to read, and some days when I didn’t (thus making it harder to read the next day).

I’m doing it again this year, but I’m using a different plan (two actually, but I’ll get to that in a minute).  I’ve learned a little bit from last year’s run, and I thought I’d share that with you in case you’d like to try it as well.

1. Find a plan. First and foremost, you have to find a plan.  You can’t just willy-nilly decide what you are going to read on a given day.  It helps to put boundaries on what you are going to read to ensure that you don’t read too much or not enough.  If you read too much, you are going to burn out.  If you don’t read enough, you’ll never finish your plan in the time frame that you’ve set for yourself.
2. Accessibility. Accessibility works in two ways.  First, make sure your Bible is readable.  You need a good version.  If you aren’t a fan of Shakespeare, then maybe you shouldn’t read the King James Version (KJV).  There are other issues with the KJV, but the biggest one is that it is difficult to read for most people.  Second, make sure it’s easy to set aside the time.  I use the YouVersion app on my iPhone, which charges on my nightstand every night.  When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is grab my phone and do my Bible reading.  It’s easy, and I haven’t missed a day yet.
3. Perseverance. I’m not going to lie to you.  Sometimes, the Bible can be incredibly boring.  It doesn’t matter what version you read, there are some parts of the Bible that will easily put you back to sleep (whether you read first thing in the morning or at lunch).  I’m going through a stretch right now where one chapter of my reading is in Leviticus.  Don’t get me wrong, Leviticus is an important book, but there’s a lot of stuff that you have to wade through in order to get to the good stuff.  It is during those times that you really, really have to persevere.  Push through.  It’s worth it.
4. Mix it up. If you simply can’t handle the second half of Exodus, or Leviticus or the genealogy in Chronicles, then maybe you need to mix it up.  It’s a whole lot easier to find a plan that will give you readings from different portions of Scripture – Pentateuch, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels, New Testament.  On YouVersion, you can find a plan to suit your needs.
5. Alternative methods.  I had a stretch where it was pretty difficult for me to sit down and read the Scripture when I was trying to go straight through.  Then we got an audio Bible that I downloaded to my iPod.  Best move ever.  It’s amazing how much of Scripture you can listen to while doing something simple… like mowing the lawn.  I listened to the entire book of Nehemiah in one afternoon while I was mowing the lawn.  There’s no shame in listening to the Word instead of reading it.  The people that think there is shame in listening instead of reading probably don’t even read it at all.  So, don’t listen to them.
6. Do it. The last suggestion is the most obvious, but I thought I’d tell you anyway.  Do it.  You can have all the plans you want, your favorite version lined up, and even set aside a special time/space for your Bible reading, but none of that is going to do any good if you don’t just sit down and read it.

Well, I hope this has helped.  Reading the Bible in a year is a daunting challenge, but it is one that is worth the effort.  And, who knows, you may develop a habit of reading your Bible every year, and that’s not a bad thing.