On reading the Bible through in one year

In my previous post about my granddaughter’s two weeks with us I wrote,

Early on I asked her if she was regularly reading in the Bible. “Yes, I am reading through the Bible Chronologically in one year and I’m almost finished.” Wow! I asked if I could read with her and then discuss our reading for the day. She agreed and together we read the last seven books: 2 Timothy, 2 Peter & Jude, 1 John, 2 & 3 John, Revelation. That was pretty cool.

While she read the Bible through in one year, I read for eight days. Perhaps I need to re-title my post, “On reading the Bible through in 8 days” Actually, I only read through seven books in eight days. And the truth is, I missed day seven and had to read two days worth on day eight! But I did get a feel for how much you had to read in order to read it through in one year. And that is what I want to write about today.

I have used these reading plans before, but it has been a long time. For many years now I have used a different approach in my reading, usually slower and concentrated on one book or topic, consequently I had greater freedom to slow down or speed up because there was no schedule to keep. That was the first thing I noticed - you don’t have time to meditate on a passage or even a book because tomorrow you have another 4-6 chapters to read. The other side of that coin is, I did read seven books in eight days! Using my current reading plan, that would not have happened.

With this kind of reading you get the big picture. I read an epistle written by Paul, by Peter, by Jude, and three by John. And I noticed something. Something significant. The Apostles draw more definite lines than we seem to today. Today, you can live any way you want and still be considered a good Christian. Not with the Apostles. They are much quicker to warn believers, “If you are not walking in his commandments there is a potentially serious problem.” They speak of judgment more freely than is often the case today: unbelievers will be judged; believers will be judged. And when it comes to false teachers, oh my... The Apostles would be described as “very harsh, unkind, and unloving.” As I read these books I wondered, “Have we have moved away from the Apostles? Have we have changed the gospel?”

This is a great idea, read the Bible through in one year. It gets you into the Bible and it helps you develop discipline. I see a couple of drawbacks: I mentioned one earlier; another is, if for some reason you miss a day or two you can seriously fall behind, get discouraged, and give up. I prefer a more contemplative reading plan, but perhaps it would be good to have the occasional binge reading.

But I did enjoy reading an epistle or selection knowing we would discuss it later that evening.