52 Week Bible Reading Plan
I have found it helpful to have a plan for Bible reading. Having a written plan makes it easy to know what to read next, and keeps me reading all parts of the Bible. It is great to be continually reminded of what God has done throughout history, not just in the New Testament. I am now up to the 25th week of the 52 Week Bible Reading Plan. The plan covers a different section of the Bible every day under the headings Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels. The history section tends to be at least five chapters daily, while the poetry section is only 1 - 2. If you have a set amount of time each day for reading, this could be a problem. However, I actually find it a blessing to have variation in the amount I read each day. I usually read the Bible while breastfeeding each morning, and return to it later if I haven't completed the section for that day.
I recently attended a Bible conference for women. One of the seminar leaders encouraged us to read smaller sections and really think about them rather than reading big chunks. She also suggested that we take one or two verses and carry them with us throughout the day. Since I know that following a plan is encouraging to me, and this involves reading some large chunks, I've decided to also write down a verse or two each day to think on more deeply. I find that certain verses tend to stick with me anyway. For example, I kept thinking over Ezekiel 16:49 "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy". Wow! That was convicting! It has been true of me in the past and though I don't have "abundance of idleness" like I did in my teens, I need to use the time and money I have now to care about the needy.
What about you? Do you enjoy using a plan or just picking books and working through them slowly?
I like to read straight through every year - beginning in Genesis and usually reading between 2-5 chapters a day. :) My Bible has a reading plan in the front that I use for a guide, but it started jumping around to different books instead of going straight through, so I'm not following it strictly.
Wow, that is a very powerful verse! I truly love the Old Testament and can't imagine not reading and learning from it regularly. I admire anyone who reads through the Bible in a year. I have yet to do this. I'll definitely bookmark the link to keep for when I'm ready to start. For now I am really loving the inductive method of diving into smaller portions in depth, but maybe nursing time will be a great time for me to start this too. I recently just started a Bible study on the book of Romans and reading through the whole book in preparation has been amazing! Thanks so much for sharing! This really has encouraged me.