When I had babies, I stuck to Matthias Media's Daily Reading Bible Notes, but now I figure I've got the energy for more.
I'm following in a grand family tradition. Here are 2 things I remember about my darling Nana:
- she loved us tickling the soles of her feet
- she read the Bible through every year.
This time, I'm using a chronological Bible reading plan. I can't tell you how it's going yet, as I'm only 5 readings in. But I'm excited, especially about seeing how the Psalms fit into the Bible story.
Already I've gone a little off course. Instead of meandering off Genesis and into Job, I ignored the reading chart and jumped straight into the story of Abraham ... oops! So I took a U-turn and I'm now knee-deep in Job, which I loved reading last year.
Next time, I want to try this thematic Bible reading plan. And then I want to write a review of the plans I've used. All in good time.
Can I encourage you to try one of these plans or this one? You can start any time of the year - I did! - and go as slowly as you like - I did!
Meredith, who reminds me of my Nana (the Bible bit, not the feet bit), gives some great hints and tips to help you here.
Why wait till after Christmas when you can start now?
What about you? How are you reading the Bible at the moment? Tell us here.
9 comments:
Timing is everything, Jean! I finished my last Bible reading plan a couple of months ago. I've been trying out the Daily Reading Bible Notes but it's just not working for me. So I was in limbo! Thanks for the links - I'll pick out something new to start on.
I did the NavPress Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan last year. It gives you four shorter passages from four different parts of the Bible each day. I liked that if I was reading a difficult passage, it was balanced by something from the Psalms and gospels as well. So you never felt "stuck" in Numbers for weeks on end for example.
However, I gave up on that way in the end and read through a book at a time. The four passages bouncing around felt too disorientating. But I still used it as a guide (I love ticking off boxes).
I've really enjoyed the thematic plan this year.
The best time to start reading the Bible through is now. Any time but the beginning of the year, because people associate it with big promises and then feel dreadful when they miss a day and feel it is all over and now have to wait till next year!
I have just finished listening to The Bible Experience, a dramatised African-American rendering of the TNIV. Highly recommend it.
Now I am 15% of the way through Faith Comes By Hearing's lightly dramatised free version of the King James Version.
It is very well done [but I don't like Jacob: St George should have issued him with a 412 for overacting*].
Although I grew up with the KJV I had never read it through and couldn't imagine doing it, even now.
But having it read to me while I get on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a time is a different story.
Yesterday I listened to some of Exodus, a Psalm, some of Isaiah and Romans 10: the passage where Faith Comes By Hearing got their name.
*St George and the Dragonet
I just printed off the ESV chronological plan. I figure if I start now then I've got a head start because I'm sure I will probably miss days as I go along :)
IF the Old Testament is the sticking point, you'll find this book helpful…
http://macarisms.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/gospel-and-kingdom/
I'm reading the MCheyne one year plan, for the third year in a row. And I did it several times a few years ago too. I think it's fair to say I'm in a rut. I need to have a think about what to do next. And I think the answer has to be read less... but that feels a bit weird.
Yes, that's sometimes the way, Fiona: read less to absorb more. We need to read the Bible in all kinds of ways: in big gulps, quickly; in small sections, slowly; gobbling it down and stopping to dwell on it and, and, and... A rut is a good time to try something new! Hope you find a way to read the Bible that is helpful for you during the next weeks and months.
Last Christmas holidayss I read the Old Testament through. This Summer I plan to read the New Testament through. I used the YouVersion Chronological Plan (personalised for start and end dates to speed up the regular yearly time frame) to read the OT and will continue with it for the NT. There is nothing like seeing that little green bar creep across the screen of my iPhone a little further each day to encourage me to keep reading!
But in between, in the other 46 weeks of the year, I read my Bible very, very slowly. It took me a term to read through 1 Peter, using a GoodBook Guide to direct my thoughts. I am presently reading Galatians, using a LifeGuide Bible study and the BST commentary by John Stott for that purpose. The LifeGuide study has 11 chapters, and I never get through a whole study in one sitting, but usually finish a study a week. I also spent a month studying Ecclesiastes this year, but that was with the help of a number of different commentaries of which I read the introductory sections, and some journal articles about Ecclesiastes.
This is how I work at getting the whole Bible read but also allowing myself time to study closely and think about particular parts of the Bible deeply. At the moment I find I get a lot more out of my Bible study when I read slowly, because I can really take time to discover how God wants me to apply the BIble to my life, which is hard when I am reading great slabs of it over the holidays.
Back online and wanting to say thank you for this sweet post. And thanks be to God for the encouragement it has clearly been to others. And thanks too for the link to the thematic plan. I haven't seen that one before.
Looking forward to your review of the plans (in a year or two or three's time).
Mx
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