Daily Bible reading is an essential discipline in the Christian life. Reading the Bible is equivalent to eating food and drinking water. To help me read systematically, I use Bible reading plans.
Over the years, I've used a dozen or so different Bible reading plans. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. Almost always, I fall into the trap of "I'm-reading-just-to-get-through-this" and it becomes nearly unprofitable (reading God's Word is never totally unprofitable, but it certainly doesn't take root in my life the way it should when I'm merely rushing through to make a reading goal).
This year, I'm using a different approach. My goal is to read through the Bible twice in 2012. That means reading 8 chapters a day. However, instead of being a slave to "8 chapters a day," I read as much as I can. I discipline myself to read at least 1 chapter. After that, I read as much as I can. Some days, I can read 12 chapters. Other days I get one chapter in. Most days, I'm somewhere in between (last night was 3 chapters). Whatever I do read, I refuse to feel guilty over what I don't read and rejoice in what I do read.
I am also using a new Bible, underling key or significant verses as I read. When I am done with my reading, I will journal my thoughts and reflections on the day's reading.
I started in Genesis and am currently in Exodus. But I don't feel like I must read through the Bible in canonical order. I will start at the beginning of a book and read it straight through. After being in the Old Testament for a while, I have no problem jumping to a New Testament book and reading it. Ultimately, I want to read every book of the Bible. The order I read them in is not all that important.
I hope you are reading your Bible daily and systematically. What plan are you using?
5 comments:
I'm doing much the same. I'm using Don Whitney's list of chapters to keep up, but aiming to read the OT once and the NT twice through this year. I'm loving not feeling guilty when I fall behind. My want to be in the word every day, but, like you, I'm not bound to read so much, or risk playing catch up.
Glad to see you post again.
Sorry, this is Michael A.
I'm using "For the Love of God Vol. 2 (M'Cheyne's plan).
I always have a simple goal in mind that liberates me as I read through my plan each year. In my Bible reading plan I read just to read through the plan. I don't try to make anything more of it than that, and I think there is still much gained thereby.
Bible reading is definitely food for the soul. I teach Sunday School and whenever I prepare and read the bible, I ask for wisdom, to open my eyes of understanding.
Once you've read ALL of the Bible, I think you can afford to skip around and read what you wish, otherwise you lose perspective and defeat the purpose of the whole narrative. I refer only to what you refer to as the "OLD" Bible - my Torah. After all, it's not a book of poems. It's a divine book of relevant stories, obligations, tradition, initial history and future of the Jewish people.
Of course, in my humble opinion, ANY study of this book by reading its translation from the Hebrew loses most of the depth of the lessons. Just as this Holy Book is a product of G-d, so too is its language. After all, Hebrew is a language authored by G-d and therefore is multi-dimensional, whereas the translation is but a superficial aspect. Each word has a root, a numerology, a mosaic element inside a grander picture, a sound when publicly read, and, of course, its Oral Tradition that was presented the Jewish people as its scriptural counterpart was written down by Moses. Jews got TWO Torahs, an oral one and a written one, and because Gentiles lack good access to the Hebrew literature that comprises the Oral Tradition, Gentiles obviously would not be able to "get" much of their readings.
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