Back in 2017, I think it was, I began a through-the-Bible-in-one-year reading program on a little phone app called “YouVersion.” At the time, several reading plans were available, and I chose one. What helped me at the time was a little number in the top corner, which kept track of how many consecutive days I had consistently logged in to read. I loved to see that number grow and grow, and the higher it got (100 days in a row!) the more I knew I would hate it if I missed a day. I remember a couple of times I would startle myself minutes before midnight realizing I had not read for the day—and I scrambled to open the app and get to my reading before I lost my big number.
Having that little boost helped get me into a regular habit of daily Bible reading for the first time in my life, and, yes, I had been preaching for quite a few years by then. Of course, I diligently read my Bible for sermon preparation and Bible class study, but I had never had a consistent personal Bible reading time.
And it has changed my life.
My regular schedule now is to read God’s word first thing in the morning (usually with a cup of coffee). The type of reading plan I use varies from year to year, but the habit remains. If I’m not reading a through-the-Bible-in-one-year plan, I’m doing something more focused with heavier reading. But I always get back to a through-the-whole-Bible plan because it’s important to continually feed myself with all of Scripture.
Something about starting the day off in God’s word sets a right pace and tone for the day. No, my Bible reading doesn’t make every day perfect—far from it in some cases—but it does give me strength and direction to navigate each day’s ups and downs more wisely, and it keeps me anchored.
January 2025 approaches. Do you have a reading plan in place? Of course, you don’t have to start a new schedule in January if you are already working a plan. In 2023, I started reading through the Bible in September, I believe it was, and finished it a couple of months ago. I then chose to read through the New Testament in three months, then read Isaiah, and now I’m reading Matthew—sort of picking and choosing until January rolls around this year. I plan to start fresh in Genesis in January.
If you choose to read on your smartphone or iPad, you can do some research before the end of the year. If you decide to use YouVersion, it can be a little difficult now to find a through-the-whole-bible plan because that app has become so glutted with short (and often not terrible helpful) reading plans. Here’s a quick pointer for YouVersion:
After you open the YouVersion app, click on the “Plans” button at the bottom of the screen.
You may have to swipe down, but you will see a search button in the top right corner. Click on that.
Type in “bible in a year” into the search field, and you will see a list of plans you can choose.
There are also Bible reading plans you can print out. I found a chronological plan online and then created my own printout to keep in my Bible. I used that one last year. Crossway Publishers (who publish the ESV Bible version) have several excellent plans available for download on their website. Two that caught my eye are:
Reading chronologically means reading the Bible in chronological order rather than canonical order (as the books are laid out). For instance, you would read the book of Job after Genesis 11 because Job lived during the time of Abraham. You would read the books of Samuel and Kings overlapped with Chronicles because those histories overlap. I don’t suggest this as a main way to read the Bible, but every few years it’s a good idea. It helps to better understand Bible history.
Some plans are super-simple, and some are fancier, such as the M’Cheyne plan linked above which gives you four different readings from four different areas of the Bible each day. That way, you always have some Old Testament and some New Testament every day. You can also break it up into a morning reading and an evening reading, if that suits you.
Let me know if you have questions or want further information. As a shepherd of the Lord’s people in Mandeville, Louisiana, I want to encourage our whole flock to make reading God’s word our ongoing life pattern. It’s good for the soul, the mind, and the heart.