Happy New Year from Bible Buying Guide! I’m here with a Bible reading challenge: read the Bible every day in 2016. While you’re at it, why not read it all the way through?
I actually like reading it two different ways at the same time. The first is to slow down and let it digest. It might take a month to complete a book and when I’m done I might read it again. The second is to read it all the way through. For this I recommend following some kind of reading plan – whether it’s in print or in your head.
We tried something in 2015 and I’m so glad we did. In addition to our individual reading we read the Bible aloud every night as a group using the M’Cheyne reading plan (you can read about that at the Faithlife Blog). We read four readings per day with a different person reading each portion and the others following along. This worked great because there are four of us. Now that we’ve completed the reading plan we decided to share our thoughts:
Randy – Each night’s reading didn’t take as long as I expected. I noticed I picked up more from the text when I read aloud and it forced me to slow down to read more thoroughly and to read through books that I don’t normally spend as much time on. Sometimes I would come across a word that I didn’t know what it meant and we would stop and look it up. When reading to myself it’s too easy to read over it. My favorite part was seeing my family stay on track and actually make it all the way through.
Lucinda – Reading as a group kept us all on track and gave us an opportunity to discuss things. This way I know everybody is reading their Bible every day and I don’t have to worry about it or constantly question them. I don’t recommend reading too late in the evening. We started out reading late and eventually we had to start sooner in the evening. Setting a specific time for it (when possible) makes it easier for it to become a habit.
Hannah – When reading by myself it was difficult to keep on schedule. Also, I would think of something that I wanted to discuss with everyone, but I would forget about it when I saw everyone. Reading together keeps us stay on track and we can discuss it as we read.
Matthew – Having a schedule and having other people to read it with me helped me get through it. When reading on my own I didn’t have a set schedule and sometimes I would forget. Once you get behind it’s hard to get caught up. It’s a lot easier when someone else tells you that it’s time to read. I don’t have to think about it.
The common thread that I keep seeing is it keeps us on track and we can stop to discuss it as we read. My family liked this so much that it’s now become a habit and we can’t imagine not reading the Bible together aloud every night. We’re doing it again for 2016, but this time we’ll rotate what we’re reading and choose a different translation. And then maybe we’ll add highlighting or note-taking, or add more chapters and read the entire Bible through twice in a year. I’ll let you know in 365 days.
Did you read the Bible all the way through in 2015? Did you follow a reading plan? Let us know in the comments below.
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