Read Your Bible in 2010

Jesus said, “Man lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God” and “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” If you belong to Jesus, you ought to hunger to hear from him. Make 2010 a year to study the Bible – the very words of Jesus to you.

There are lots of great systems to help you read through the Bible in a year. I’ll mention 3 below. First remember a few things:

  • The Bible has 1,189 chapters. Read just 3.2575342465753424657534246575342 chapters a day and you’ve got it covered in a year.
  • Reading 3 chapters should take about 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have 10 minutes a day to intentionally pursue Jesus, you need to re-order your priorities.
  • Make a plan and follow it. Do it with other people. Aim at nothing, and you’re pretty sure to hit just that.
  • Finally, I need to tell myself this one constantly. Remember grace. If you get off track, miss a few days, or just plan fail and give up, God is not any less pleased with you. Jesus has secured your standing with God. He loves and accepts you even when you fail. So don’t let your failure in reading lead you to guilt and despair. May it lead you to enjoy grace even more and may grace lead you to Jesus all over again!

1) Read daily online.

The ESV Bible Reading Plans are awesome. Daily readings can show up in your email, by RSS feed, on your cell phone…anyway you connect, this provides a way to fit it in.

2) Use the plan in the ESV Study Bible.

Download the plan or buy a Study Bible and use the chart in the back (page 2743). With this plan there are four readings each day, divided into four main sections:

  • Psalms and Wisdom Literature
  • Pentateuch (first 5 books of the OT) and the History of Israel
  • Chronicles and Prophets
  • Gospels and Epistles

3) The Discipleship Journal Reading Plan

This is my personal favorite. It puts you in one primary book at a time (rather than trying to follow 3 or 4 story lines from different books) and it gives you days off to catch up or go back to something you’ve already read.

  • the first reading alternatives between OT and NT books (about 3-4 chapters a day), with the Gospels spread throughout the year
  • the second reading is about a chapter a day of the wisdom literature and Isaiah

One more option is to download and use the Engage plan from our friends at The Journey in St. Louis.

So…what’s your plan?