With the end of the year in sight, I have been reinvigorated to finish my "through the Bible in a year (or 3)" plan.
I started in Genesis in January 2006, and have been working my way from left to right, cover to cover, with the desire to read and understand the entirety of God's word in context.
I've taken breaks here and there to move around and study a topic in greater detail, or meditate on scriptures relating to life events, but I always come back to the silk ribbon and renew its progress.
The cover to cover method has been valuable for me to spend time in scripture passages that I may not have come across through a sermon or a devotional. I like knowing that I've read everything in the Bible (hmm, if only I could remember everything I've read!).
This will be the second time I've completed the reading from cover to cover. The first time through, I read the NIV Life Application commentary alongside the relevant scriptures, which also took me three years (I enjoyed the extra information, but ultimately found that the extra weight of the Bible discouraged me from taking it with me anywhere).
So, how shall I spend my daily quiet times in January 2009? I've got a couple different options in mind.
One is the "One Year Bible", which is based on the idea of (surprise) reading through the entire Bible in a year. What I like about this Bible, is that it automatically divies up the reading for each day, so that instead of reading a huge chunk in one place, you read a bit from the Old Testament, a bit from the new, and a Psalm (Hopefully this would keep me from getting bogged down in long passages of similar content).
Another option is a topical daily devotional. Yet another would be to do an in-depth study of Romans, and pick something else once I'm done with that. Ultimately, my goal is to continue learning about God's will in my life through His word, and to grow in obedience and maturity.
How do you choose your Bible devotional / study material? Do you follow some sort of a plan, or the pick and flip method?
1 comment:
I have a Ryrie Study Bible (NASB) with an “in one year” option. It doesn't bounce around like what you mentioned (OT, NT, PS); but it does bounce around. Sections such as the judges, histories, prophets, and gospels where the same story or time frame is discussed in different books (such as the same event told in all 4 gospels), the different accounts of the same event are all read as one day’s reading and when applicable, the Psalms go with the stories they are from. I find it flows better than when I’ve tried to read cover to cover. There are sections where you might get ‘bogged down in long passages of similar content” since you are reading some books straight through and others reading multiple versions of the same event at one time. I can send you the schedule if you want.
Post a Comment