Reading God's Word

[Toscalisa]

I'm hoping you all can help me with something.

One thing that has bothered me for a while is that I've never yet managed to get through the whole Bible. A while back (maybe a year ago?) I found one of those "Bible in a year" plans on the internet. So I started, right at Genesis.

I'm not sure at what point, perhaps it was when it was going through "[enter name of person here] had [list children here] and lived [enter number of years here]. And then he died." I think it was the repetitiveness of it that started this problem, but suddenly it became something I was forcing myself to do. And if I missed a day? I'd try to make it up the next day. What if I was out of town for a weekend (due to visual impairment I read the Bible on the computer, so would need a computer)? Well then, I'd assign myself the task of "making up" what I'd missed upon my return. And at one point, regretfully, I just kinda gave up. I really never even got through Genesis.

That wasn't the first time, but whenever I would try read the Bible in a year, it would sort of seem overwhelming.

And it's disturbing that I would find God's Word overwhelming to get through. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the fact that I would try to force myself to do it.

I have read bits and pieces of Scripture, I've recently read the entire books of James and 1 John. And other passages that I might happen to come across. But with something as important as God's Word, one should get through the entire thing as soon as possible, not just bits and pieces.

So...does anyone have any ideas as to how I might get to reading the whole Bible and actually stick to it?

[kross]

I'm hoping you all can help me with something.

One thing that has bothered me for a while is that I've never yet managed to get through the whole Bible. A while back (maybe a year ago?) I found one of those "Bible in a year" plans on the internet. So I started, right at Genesis.

I'm not sure at what point, perhaps it was when it was going through "[enter name of person here] had [list children here] and lived [enter number of years here]. And then he died." I think it was the repetitiveness of it that started this problem, but suddenly it became something I was forcing myself to do. And if I missed a day? I'd try to make it up the next day. What if I was out of town for a weekend (due to visual impairment I read the Bible on the computer, so would need a computer)? Well then, I'd assign myself the task of "making up" what I'd missed upon my return. And at one point, regretfully, I just kinda gave up. I really never even got through Genesis.

That wasn't the first time, but whenever I would try read the Bible in a year, it would sort of seem overwhelming.

And it's disturbing that I would find God's Word overwhelming to get through. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the fact that I would try to force myself to do it.

I have read bits and pieces of Scripture, I've recently read the entire books of James and 1 John. And other passages that I might happen to come across. But with something as important as God's Word, one should get through the entire thing as soon as possible, not just bits and pieces.

So...does anyone have any ideas as to how I might get to reading the whole Bible and actually stick to it?

There are plans out there for reading through the Bible in a year that take samplings for a number of different books so you can choke down Numbers and liviticus in smaller bites.

Despite the monotony of some of those books, there are wonderful nuggets of gold in the middle of them.

[Guest Ballinamore]

I never could buckle down and read the Bible in the planned outlines. I just did it one book at a time, and not in order, either.

[Guest HIS girl]

When I was first Saved, I tried to read the Bible from front to back but I couldn't. Now, I do my quiet time(reading, praying, talking to God, writing) early in the morning before my sons get up. What I eneded up doing was reading the NT first, so I learned a bit about Jesus, then I went and read the first 3 books of the OT. I read some Psalms/Proverbs in between.

Now I read where the Spirit leads(it's usually something that the HS is revealing to me) and I notice that the "theme" of what it is I need to know will be wherever I am led, whethter it be in the NT or the OT.

Some people thrive on structure, others don't. Just try some different things and see what is comfortable with you. Some people read 1 chapter a day. Whatever it is, there's no hard and fast rule.

[traveller]

Try reading John. It's beautiful, flows well, and is heartstoppingly inspirational. Try to be away from distractions, so you can delve into it with your being. Pray before hand, praise the Lord, then enjoy the word He left for you.

[kross]

I did just remember that Charles Stanley has a daily devotional that include a read through the Bible schedule. His teaching is great and you get the added bonus.

[Iryssa]

If you have an iPod or just spend enough time on the computer, you can also subscribe to podcasts that do daily readings. There's one in iTunes called the "1 Year Daily Audio Bible," which is apparently quite popular, and there's one called "The Bible in a Year." If you go into the iTunes (the download is free, if you don't have iTunes already, and can be found on apple.com ) store, you can search for them by name.

I like my 1-year Bible which takes portions of different books for a single day's reading...makes it a little easier to do, because you're not just stuck reading a whole bunch of "begats" as your whole day's portion. Also, in the introduction it tells you different ways to use it. You can do the OT in a year, the NT in a year, the Wisdom Books in a year, or whatever.

[Toscalisa]

Thanks everybody.

I just found a three year plan. It basically gives an outline of the plan. It alternates between OT and NT. So you read an OT book, or part of an OT book, then you do all or part of an NT book. If you read one chapter a day, it works out to being through it in three years.

I asked God to give me desire to read His Word. And I am letting God set the pace. If I can do one chapter a day for three years, great. If I can do more than a chapter a day and maybe get finished sooner, great. I'll admit, I'd like to get through it ASAP, but I'll need to remind myself that God knows best at what pace I'm capable of, and do it as He leads, and not force myself to go beyond it. Forcing myself ahead tends to turn my brain into a fried egg.

And, brains are much better at understanding and comprehending than fried eggs are. lol

[EricH]

Thanks everybody.

I just found a three year plan. It basically gives an outline of the plan. It alternates between OT and NT. So you read an OT book, or part of an OT book, then you do all or part of an NT book. If you read one chapter a day, it works out to being through it in three years.

I asked God to give me desire to read His Word. And I am letting God set the pace. If I can do one chapter a day for three years, great. If I can do more than a chapter a day and maybe get finished sooner, great. I'll admit, I'd like to get through it ASAP, but I'll need to remind myself that God knows best at what pace I'm capable of, and do it as He leads, and not force myself to go beyond it. Forcing myself ahead tends to turn my brain into a fried egg.

And, brains are much better at understanding and comprehending than fried eggs are. lol

Blessings as you seek to Hear God's voice on a daily basis

[glorywatch]

Tosca, it sounds like you found a plan that works for you. My husband and I are doing the one year plan and it has been tough at times, but we only have the rest of this year and we are done. I don't think I want to do it again...at least not like that. I would rather have some daily devotionals than a structured plan. I think most of us struggle through those 'begats' and I found Leviticus to be a read brain drain. Having said all that I am still glad that we have disciplined ourselves to stick with it.