“Blessed is a man . . . his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”
– Psalm 1:1–3
Many Christians desire to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation at
least once. I know a lot of ordinary Christians who have achieved that dream. Several
of my blog readers have also accomplished that feat in a calendar year. In the
past years, I used to have a Bible Reading WhatsApp group where we shared our
daily progress. One guy spent an hour or two almost every day reading the Bible
within 81 days; he was the fastest guy under my watch.
Three members finished the target within 6 months, and the rest of the members completed it within a year or two.
And of course, there used to be a few Judas Iscariots who would not
persevere to the end. 😜
Over the years, I have mentored or encouraged hundreds of Christians to
read their Bible through in a calendar year, at least once. Dozens of them have
done it once; several, more than once; and some are reading for the fifth time or more this
year. So, today’s post is to encourage you and explain how you may fulfill that
desire this year. However, I have stopped issuing certificates, so please don’t
write to me for one. I have also already written some blog posts on practical
guidance for reading the Bible through in a calendar year. I would like to revisit
those blog posts and offer some commentary today.
First, if you do not have that desire or are not challenged to read the Bible,
read this article: “The Word and The World: Towards a
Bible-Reading Habit as a Consequence of Salvation and a Means of
Sanctification.” This article explains the importance (necessity) of a Bible-reading
life for a Christian.
Some people are intimidated by the size (thickness) of the Bible and
wonder how to find time and motivation to read through it. If you are one of
them, read this post: “Reading Through The Bible Is Not A Big
Deal!” Takeaway: It
takes only 70–100 hours to read the entire Bible. The whole Bible has 1189 chapters;
it will take four chapters a day to finish within a year. That will be about 15–25
minutes a day.
Here's another article offering at least 10 Creative Bible Reading Plans. Many people made a New Year’s resolution to read through
the Bible but failed because they lacked a Bible reading plan. Furthermore, one
must differentiate between studying, meditating, and reading the Bible. Consider
points #6, #7, and #8 of this article.
One of the most rewarding
Bible reading plans I followed was reading it chronologically. The detailed
plan is provided in this article: Reading Bible Chronologically within 4 Months. If only you have been reading the Bible regularly for some years, this plan
will be suitable for you. Do not let the 4-month timeframe deter you; you can
modify it to suit your annual plan.
Another practical way
to read through the Bible is to read book by book in one or two sittings. Here
is an example of how I have done it in 2017: My Bible Reading Plan (Rongmei Version/Translation). Again, you can adapt the plan for 12 months.
In 2022, I decided to
read a chapter from each genre of the Bible. It was great but required a lot of
discipline. See this article: My 2022 Bible Reading Plan. If you choose to
follow this plan, restructure it to suit your plan.
The point of the above
examples is the methods: chronologically (events in the historical time), book
by book, or by genres of the Bible each day. One does not need to follow my timeline shown in the reading plans, such as 4 months or 5 months.