Beloved,
This Sunday marks not only the beginning of a new week but also the beginning of a new year. A couple of weeks ago, I commented on Matthew’s masterful grasp of the Old Testament and encouraged you in the new year to immerse yourself in the Scriptures, prayerfully working through both Old and New Testaments. For as J.C. Ryle famously said, “A whole Bible makes a whole Christian.” Toward that end, I want to commend a few resources that will help you to become a more devoted student of the Bible in the new year.
First, there are many great Bible reading plans that will lead you through the Bible over the course of the year. The best of these have you reading in both Testaments everyday and provide margin for days in which reading might not happen. Here are three excellent ones:
- The Kingdom Bible Reading Plan. I like this plan because it follows the traditional structure of the OT, and it leads you through the Psalms twice and the rest of the Bible once over the course of 25 days a month, leaving margin for missed days or providing the opportunity once a week to go deep in a particular passage (e.g., spending Sunday morning studying the sermon text in preparation for the preached word).
- The Five Day Bible Reading Program. I’ve not personally done this program, but Tim Challies is a huge proponent of it. It takes you through the entire Bible in a year with readings in both Testaments over the course of five days a week, again providing plenty of margin.
- Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System. This is a Bible-reading program on steroids, having you read 10 chapters a day. After finishing up my Bible reading plan for 2022 a couple days ago, I decided to begin this one as I sensed my need to beef up my Bible intake. It has been wonderful! It requires roughly 40 minutes a day (less time than the average American spends scrolling social media!).
These, of course, are only three of a multitude of Bible reading plans. If you are just beginning to implement the discipline of daily Bible reading, you may find it helpful to begin with a two-year Bible reading plan or to take the Five Day plan and split up each day into two days, reading the OT passage one day and the NT passage the next. Obviously, there is nothing magical about getting through the Bible in a year! But find a way to realistically work through the whole Bible in a reasonable amount of time. And if you struggle with reading, there are many audio Bibles available through which you could listen to the Bible in a year. I use the ESV Bible app on my phone. It is free, and it will read the entire Bible to you and even has different voices to choose from (my personal favorite is Kristin Getty’s!).
Second, I commend to you this excellent article/booklet by Andrew Davis entitled, “An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture.” Davis provides a compelling argument for memorizing, not single verses, but entire chapters and books of Scripture. It is not an overstatement to say that this practice has been life transforming for me in the past. At one point, using Davis’s method, I was able to recite the first thirteen chapters of Romans from memory. That letter was engraved upon my heart through that time. As I’ve pondered the year past, I recognize I have been negligent in memorization, and in the coming year I want to change that, memorizing 2 Timothy. Pick a portion of Scripture and seek to commit it to memory in the coming year. Start small. Maybe Psalm 1 or John 1:1-18. I guarantee it will change your life! If you are not convinced, read Davis’s article, and give it a try.
Third, sometimes we can get bogged down in our personal devotions when we reach difficult portions of the Bible like Leviticus or Zechariah. You might consider getting a study Bible which provides book introductions (explaining the historical context, major themes of the book, etc.) as well as explanatory notes on the text itself. Here are my three favorite:
I realize this email is massive information dump. If instead of encouraging you, it makes you feel overwhelmed, please disregard it! I desired to share some helpful resources, but I really just want to encourage you to get in the word and to get the word in you, however you see fit to do it.
Don’t forget that the great goal in all of this is not to impress people that you can recite large portions of Scripture or to feel good about yourself because you plowed through the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Bible intake in every form is to the end of knowing and enjoying God in Jesus Christ!
May God see fit in 2023 to draw us into an expanding knowledge of Himself through His word and by His Spirit.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick