As 2009 comes to a close, it is very tempting to press toward the end of the year as if finishing this decade is an admirable goal. It is funny how easily we can aim at finishing one year and forget that there is another following right behind it.
One category that can really sneak up on us toward the beginning of a new year is planning for your Bible reading. In my life, the simple truth is that I will fail to read well and study well if I do not discipline myself to read in a scheduled and systematic way. So, I have been pondering what I will do to make sure that I read through the Bible in an orderly fashion in 2010.
For the last two years, I have used a plan that takes me through the entire text of Scripture in the year. There are several things that I particularly like about the way this plan works:
· It covers all of the Bible in the year.
· It includes 25 readings per month, thus allowing for days to catch up.
· It is used by several people I know, so I am often reading something that others are reading as well.
· It has me reading from different sections of the Bible at once, thus helping me not to get bogged down.
· It is a plan, thus being better than trying to haphazardly keep myself going.
I hope that, in 2010, you will make it a point to read through the Bible. Perhaps, if you are not much of a reader, you will at least be able to plan to make it through the New Testament. I don’t think that there is any spiritual discipline more important for the Christian than to intentionally spend time in the word of God.
I’d be thrilled if you would join me in reading through the Bible in 2010. Often, my blog posts will come from what I have just run across in the daily readings. It is always wonderful to hear from others who are reading and thinking about the same passages.
If you would like to use the plan I am using, you can find it here.
If you would like to use a different plan that I have used in the past, you might check out Crosswalk.com’s Bible-in-a-Year page which will allow you to do your reading on-line and chart your progress on the site.
The ESV website has a list of several reading plans that also might interest you.
Regardless of what plan you use to read through the Bible in 2010, I urge you to pick a plan, stick with it, and enjoy time well spent in the word of God in the year to come.
Pastor Travis Peterson 