Goodnight! There are a lot of plans out there. Which do you choose? How do you go about choosing one? Why would you want to read the Bible in a year anyway? What's so special about a year that I get through the whole thing? These are some of the questions that go through my head when I thought about my approach to reading this year. This new task often looms ahead of believers everywhere. We cry out, "This is the year that I'm going to read through the whole thing!", only to find ourselves in February hopelessly falling behind schedule as work mounts up and spring sports for the kids take over our evenings (not that I have any, I just know that's what tends to happen).
So, here's the scuttlebutt. Some plans just want to get you through the whole thing with no regard for your time. Some plans tease you and tell you that it only takes five minutes every day. Other plans attempt to, either chronologically or in order, read from front to back. The
problem with almost all of them is that they forget how the author originally intended the books to be read. The New Testament is mostly letters, which meant they were to be read in one sitting. The Psalms were mostly prayers that David and others were crying out to the Lord in honor or frustration and other emotions. The Old Testament is God's beautiful display of his chosen people coming to know him. With vast viewpoints and authors and different styles, how do you come up with the perfect plan to accommodate the different styles? In the next week or so, I'll discuss why each section of the Bible should be read a particular way and how to go about doing that. The whole point of reading the Bible is that we grow in our love and affections for Jesus by reading his word. Everyone is going to be different and it may be beneficial to read like I do or adopt your own plan. Stay tuned in the next week to gather some insight into how to read the Bible.
This is going to be a 4 part series on how to read the Bible in a year. This is my opinion from what I have
learned, so take what you like and get rid of the rest. This is by no means the only way to do it.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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3 comments:
GREAT blog entry! I really look forward to reading what you have to say to so many of us who've been asking the same questions as you!
Thanks for the comment. I did this kind of hastily and found some typos as I went back and read. Let me know if you find anything blatantly obvious that I may have missed. :)
SWEET! I am so excited about this also! I looked at the websites you saved on the right side of your blog. I was also overwhelmed and wondered what was up with the time lines (90 days, a year etc.). I personally am in no hurry...but I feel I need a plan so that I don't miss anything. Otherwise I will keep doing what I have been doing which is hanging out in the old testament re-reading everything.
I like the Track 3 plan on the Zondervan website. It says one chapter a day for 3 years. I won't have a set amount to read everyday. I will just be sure to read the book it says I need to be in and depending on what the Lord has for me I will read X amount.
That's the plan until I see your options :)
Thanks again!
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