Bible Reading Plan 2016
Let me take you back to a year ago…it’s now January 12, 2015 and I’m debating if I should do a bible reading plan. I’ve read most of the bible but never actually gone through it in it’s entirety. I’m not much of a reader but I love reading God’s word. So I begin to search for some reading plans and I come across a tweet that led me to Tim Challies blog. From there I decided to do a reading plan that doesn’t start on January 1, since I was already 12 days late, but one that I could start whenever and not worry about staying on schedule. I decided to do Professor Horner’s System since it was touted as an intense reading plan and I like to think of myself as a pretty intense guy, just look at my beard. Anyway, you can click the link to find more information on that reading plan but basically it’s 10 chapters a day from completely different books of the bible. I started this plan on January 15th and I was going pretty strong for a couple of months. Eventually I waned and had to restructure my approach in June of 2015. I decided to cut it down to 5 chapters a day and wouldn’t re-read sections I had completed so I could finish the bible before the end of the year. Well fast forward to January 12, 2016 (today) and I’m still not done! I’ve got just 7 chapters left in the book of Esther (which I’ve read before!) and then, Lord willing, I’ll complete the bible in a year.
Now I share that story with you all not to get attention for my intense beard, or my over achieving bible reading plan, or even that I’ve read the entire bible. I share it with you because there’s been an incredible amount of joy that came from reading/soaking/meditating/ingesting God’s word over the last year. Making this a priority has brought me such a greater understanding of God’s character, his purposes for his people and a holistic view of scripture. I’m all about bible overviews and viewing the bible from Genesis to Revelation to have a clear understanding of how God is redeeming his people. But to read commentaries or watch really good videos on the topic is no substitute for actually reading the bible for yourself. We have a tremendous gift of God’s word that the reformers fought for us to have in our hands. We believe in Sola Scriptura, or the doctrine that scripture alone is our authority for faith and practice as a Christian. Let me urge you, if you haven’t read the entire bible before or if you’re feeling spiritually parched, try a reading plan. Try one with someone in your Life Group so you can dwell on scripture in community. I’ve linked to number of them below to help you get started.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:16-17
READING PLANS
The Bible Project This plan is broken up into 16 “chapters” and will have you read through the entire bible. You will read a 2-3 chapters a day, a psalm and it has some of their great videos that accompany each chapter.
ESV Daily Bible Reading Plan
This plan has four daily readings taken from four lists: Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles.
Chronological Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in the order the events occurred chronologically.
5×5×5 Bible Reading Plan Read through the New Testament in a year, reading Monday to Friday. Weekends are set aside for reflection and other reading. Especially beneficial if you’re new to a daily discipline of Bible reading.
You can find more examples here.