A Bible Reading Action Plan, part 2

Continued from 'A Bible Reading Action Plan'

Bible reading is like anything else. It takes time to "develop your muscles". You don't start out reading 50 chapters a day any more than you start out running 10 miles a day or cooking a huge gourmet dinner or playing 4 worship sets a day. You have to build up to it.

What we really want to build is a faithfulness of reading the Bible consistently and therefore growing in our understanding of God's heart.

I recommend that you start by reading 5 chapters (Genesis 1-5). Then the next day, 5 more chapters (1 Samuel 1-5). If you're confused as to why I say Gen 1-5 and 1Sam 1-5 you probably didn't read 'A Bible Reading Action Plan, part 1'. Check that out and especially the section suggestions at the bottom before continuing this article.

I recommend that you stick with 5 Chapters each day for two weeks. It's easy to want to jump ahead and start reading 15-20 chapters each day simply because you have vision for it right now. That's great for today but we want to build consistency over time. I prefer to leave my Bible reading time still hungry for more so that I come back tomorrow excited. That's why I say to just read 5 chapters a day for the first two weeks.

After two weeks, upgrade to 10 chapters a day but still use the section divisions. If you have been going for two weeks, five days a week, you should be about to read Genesis 11-15. Go ahead, read it. Also read from the second section (1Samuel 11-15).

The next day you read 10 chapters again, 5 from each of the next two sections. Do this again and again for two more weeks. You should be starting to get used to the way the Bible works while still reading it in digestible chunks.

It's been two more weeks so it's time to add to your program. We're now at 15 chapters a day, 5 from each section. Wow, you're getting to be a scholar.

Two more weeks!!! Now you're at 20 chapters a day. You've never read this much of the Bible.

Another two weeks; you are reading 25 chapters a day, 5 chapters from each of the sections of the Bible. If you read at this pace you will read the Bible every two months.

You get the point by now. It's expandability. Grow slowly... I got to the point for a season to where I was reading 10 chapters from each section, 50 chapters a day. It's the Bible in a month plan.

Reading whole passages this way really brought the Bible together as a whole. Try it out and tell me what you think. You can't go wrong trying it, even if you find that the plan is dumb. It's still the Bible and it'll still change your life.