How about reading the whole Bible this year…?

Almost every year around this time I make some resolutions or at least informally try to lean in to new good habits–or old ones I’ve forsaken. Some sort of strategy for reading the Bible is usually top priority for me because 1) I want to know what it says and 2) without a plan I don’t usually succeed in finding out what it says effectively. Even though my faith is built on a relationship and not a series of checklists, discipline and systematic approaches are still important to keep the likes of me focused and on a spiritual growth track.

Several times I’ve aspired to read the Bible through in a year. A couple of times I’ve succeeded; often times I’ve failed to varying degrees. Of course, there isn’t anything sacred about reading the whole Bible each year. I think it’s just a way to set a parameter to ensure that you cover this life-giving, most important word in its entirety while keeping it within a time frame that allows you to see a somewhat cohesive view of the overarching message.

There have been years that I have intentionally avoided such a plan: sometimes I have found myself getting too regimented and legalistic, and have felt a need to go deep into certain areas of scripture. and knowing myself, I realize that if I have the satisfaction of checking off a long list, I may gloss right over the very thing I need to see, and just get caught up in finishing. ¿Sabe?

On the flip-side, however, I went many years without having ever read the entire Bible, and even not entirely sure what parts I had not covered. As I had done with so many other resolutions, I repeatedly started strong and then fizzled.

A friend commended me lately for having an exceptional handle of the geneaology of the early Israelites. I had to confess that it was largely because of how many times I had set out to read the Bible from cover to cover and failed somewhere around Deuteronomy… True story.

I did a Bible read-through daily plan about three years ago, and even though I was really glad I did it–to know I had read the WHOLE thing–it was a struggle all year long to stay caught up, and I would often get behind on weekends when my regular daily routine was disrupted. I thankfully had some large swaths of time the last week of the year, during which time I caught up several weeks worth of reading. As I said before, it was good, but not ideal.

This past year, I stumbled onto a plan that really worked (FINALLY) for me. It’s a five day plan instead of seven. So if I got behind during a weekday, I could play catch-up on the weekend. It covers the Old Testament chronologically (not necessarily in the order of placement), and then seems to strategically place the New Testament books to tie in thematically as much as possible with the Old Testament passages. They get divided up and paired for daily reading assignments, some with individual Psalms and chapters of Proverbs sprinkled in. The gospels are divided up so that you read one per quarter.

This has honestly been the best Bible study year for me ever, which is probably in part due to the fact that our Sunday school curriculum, The Gospel Project from Lifeway, has corresponded almost week by week with exactly what I’ve been reading. I couldn’t have possibly coordinated it any better if I had set out to, which I didn’t. But it was a real blessing to have that extra reinforcement on top of the clarity I experienced from the well-thought-out Scripture reading plan.

So for once, I’m not scrapping the old plan and trying to make a fresh start. Instead, I’m reading a different translation (CSV last year–ESV this year) from a new study bible I bought on deep discount from CBD. And I hope to go deeper into study on some more difficult passages now that I feel confident I can do that and still finish all the reading by the end of the year.

I’m in no way affiliated with the Five Day Bible Reading Plan website and am not receiving any compensation for the plan, which is entirely free for anyone to download anyway. And perhaps there are dozens of better ones out there. If you know of one, let me know! But if you’re looking for a new plan for this year, and would like to tackle the entire Bible in a year, you might give this one a try. If you’d like to check it out, go here.

What are your thoughts on reading through the Bible in a year? And do you have a favorite approach/plan?