Reading the Bible isn't really that hard. I've heard people talk about how hard it is to read through the Bible, but when you consider that there are 1189 chapters in the Bible, and 365 days in a year, all you have to do is read 3.5 chapters a day (or 3 chapters a day, plus 5 on Sunday). I'm a fast reader, so it takes me about 10 minutes to read 3.5 chapters. It might take someone else longer, but not hours and hours. Just a few minutes a day can get you through the Bible in a year.
Everybody has to start somewhere. So if you've never read the Bible through, try reading those 23 chapters a week and do it for 52 weeks. Then start again next year. And keep doing it. You will never read it over again without it speaking something fresh and new to you. That's because it is alive and powerful, and sharp enough to work wonders in our lives.
I'm going to be 42 this September. I was given my first Bible to read 35 years ago, and I've been reading it ever since. I do not know how many times I've read it through. I can honestly say I haven't read it through 35 times, but I know there are parts of the Bible I have read through at least that many times. I suspect I've read Genesis close to 100 times. That's from all those times of starting to read the Bible and getting through Genesis and Exodus, only to get bogged down in the laws of Leviticus or lost in Numbers while wandering in the wilderness. Plus, Genesis is a fascinating and exciting book. The rest of the Bible is built on the foundation of Genesis. I used to read through Psalms and Proverbs every month, so I've probably read them more than 100 times. I've read the gospels a lot. Also Jude. Other books, I've read through multiple times. But I've never actually counted how many times I've read the entire Book through. Cover to cover, maybe a handful of times. Using different sampling plans, about the same.
A few years ago, I determined that in reading 40 chapters a day, I could go through the Bible in a month. I've attempted it several times, succeeded only once. But each time I try, I am amazed at how much truth is woven through this wonderful text. It is always surprising to start in Genesis and read the same theme through Proverbs, Psalms, a couple more wisdom chapters, the prophets, the gospels and the epistles...always saying the same thing on the same subject. It was exciting to finish the book 30 days after I started, and still be able to remember what I read just 4 short weeks before. Of course, it usually took 3-4 hours of reading every day, and if I missed a day, I had to make it up somewhere. Suffice it to say that there were some days I read more than 40 chapters, more like 70 or 80 or 90 chapters, which took considerably longer. Fortunately, the one time I did it, I didn't have much else going on. I had all the time I needed to read and read and read. Not so much anymore.
One day, I may try it again, but today, I started a different challenge only half as difficult. I'm going to read the Bible through in 60 days, at a pace of 20 chapters a day. Today, reading seven chapters from Genesis, four from Psalms, four from Isaiah, two from Matthew, and three from Romans, I read my chapters in a 45 minute setting. Some days may be longer, some shorter. But I want to read the Bible through, and I've shared my plan with others who said they would like to read along with me. So here we go. My goal is to have read all 1189 chapters of the Bible by the end of October. I'll let you know how it goes.
Why? you might ask. Why do you feel it necessary to do such marathon reading? Wouldn't 3 chapters a day and 5 on Sunday be sufficient? Perhaps it would, and if anybody does that, I say keep on reading! We need to put the word in, so that the word comes out. We need to let it dwell in us richly. We need to let it correct and exhort and transform and renew us. We need the word of God to speak life into our lives. Any amount is better than none at all, and as previously noted, those 3 & 5 chapter days will get you through the Bible in a year.
But sometimes, I just want more. I want a feast, an endless buffet, a smorgasbord. So I take it a little faster. This isn't Bible Study. I'm also doing that--in Malachi, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians, & 1st Corinthians right now. Soon it will be the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6 & 7. This is just reading, reading for pleasure, reading to read, reading to fill myself up with the word of God. Because when I do, what goes in comes out. What goes in changes my life. What goes in stays in and revives my soul.
Let it do the same to you!
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