Bible Reading Plan

There are three of my favorite things in this picture. There is the Bible, a hot cup of coffee, and a great pen. When Dr. Don Whitney (http://www.spiritualdisciplines.org/) speaks in churches on the Christian Disciplines he emphasizes Biblical intake. When I was in seminary and sat in his classes he emphasized to us "professional" ministers the absolute necessity of spending time taking in the Word of God. He told us that we should read the Bible through every year.

I don't know about you but every time I have tried to read straight through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, I get bogged down somewhere in the begat section of Numbers. Recognizing this, Dr. Whitney advocates a Bible reading plan from five sections of Scripture. Let me outline the sections.

1. The Law and Writings- Genesis through Esther.

2. The Wisdom Books- Job through Song of Solomon (Canticles for you Puritans).

3. The Prophets- Isaiah through Malachi.

4. The Books of the New Testament- Matthew through Acts.

5. The Letters of the New Testament- Romans through Revelation.

By reading just two chapters each day from each section you can read the Bible through faster and more efficiently than you think. For instance, a good reader can read these ten chapters in twenty to thirty minutes. Let me show you how fast you will read through each section.

The first section will take the longest. Genesis through Esther contains 436 chapters. Two per day will have you reading through that section 1.67 times in one year. Section two moves faster and you will read through the Wisdom Books 3 times in a year. The Prophets will be read almost 3 times in a year.

The New Testament will go even faster. The Books of the New Testament will be read 6 times in a year and the Letters will be read 5 times. Isn't that amazing? Think about what you will do in three years. Look:

In three years you would have read through the first section over 4.5 times. Section two would be read 9 times. Section three also 9 times. And you would have read through the entire New Testament 15 times in three years! Do you see how easy this is? We all can make time to fit in thirty minutes of Bible reading time in our day. You could do ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes at lunch, and ten minutes at night.

Happy Reading and may God bless you through His wonderful Word!