I spent the early part of the year following a reading plan that focused on the New Testament, the Book of Romans especially, as I have spent a year teaching from Romans on Wednesday nights. I've also spent quite a bit of time harmonizing those Old Testament passages in Kings, Chronicles, and the Prophets that deal with the last days of Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. I've spent some months reading a chapter from Proverbs each day. I've worked my way through Genesis and the Psalms a couple of times. I'm always in the Gospels because of my preaching on Sunday mornings. But on November First, I returned to an old, familiar habit--reading the Bible through in 60 days to finish out my year.
It's not that hard, really, if one is willing to set aside the time for it. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible, some of them long, some short. At 20 chapters a day, the Bible can be read in two months time. For me, that means about two hours of uninterrupted reading. I've done it a couple of times in the last three years. One time, six years ago now, I endeavored to read the Bible through in a month--40 chapters a day. I read about half of the Bible the first month I tried; much less the second month; but in the third month I succeeded. Most days I devoured 40 chapters, but if I missed a day, that meant I had to make up for it the next by reading twice as much. Fortunately, I had nothing much else to do at the time and could spend the hours most people work at a full time job reading the Bible.
What's the point of all that reading? someone asked. Why rush through that rich library of God's Word? You can't possible absorb everything you read. And what about studying? Shouldn't you study the Word of God rather than just read it? As to this last question, I say without reservation, "Yes, you should!" That's why I do both. I read AND I study. I try to read large amounts of the Bible on a regular basis, and study it in smaller portions, both for my own benefit and for my preaching. But I have also found great benefit in the copious reading of the Scriptures.
For instance, when one is on a yearly-reading program, it requires one to read about three and a half chapters a day in order to finish in 365 days. So if one begins in Genesis 1, spends basically nine months wading through the Old Testament, and the last three months of the year in the New, by the time you get to Revelation 22, you might not remember that you read similar things in Genesis and Exodus. If, on the other hand, you just read Genesis and Exodus a couple of weeks ago, you might see the connections a lot easier.
When I'm reading large amounts of Scripture at a time, I usually try to break it up into segments taken from each division of the Bible. This time it looks something like this: 7 or 8 chapters a day in the historical books of Genesis through Esther; 4 chapters a day in the Wisdom literature; 4 or 5 chapters a day in the Prophets; 2 chapters a day in the Gospels and Acts of the apostles; and 2 or 3 chapters a day in the Epistles. Because of my weekend schedule, I usually end up reading a little extra during the week and a little less on Saturday and Sunday. In this way, I intend to read the whole Bible through by December 31st.
So why, one might ask, do you read the Bible like that, over and over and over again?
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it is the bread by which my spirit is fed. Jesus quoted the Mosaic Law when He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." If I want a strong and healthy Spiritual life, I need to condition to myself to feasting well on the pages of Scripture.
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it is living. It doesn't change, and cannot be changed, because though grass withers and flowers fade, the Word of God remains the same forever. But it is definitely alive, and it grows inside of me. It provides life-giving truth, and where one passage might speak one way to my soul on one occasion, it often speaks another way on a different occasion. Reading through the Bible should never be the same way twice.
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it is powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. When let loose in a person's life, the Word of God divides flesh from Spirit, divides meat from bones, and reveals the issues of the heart. When I hear Moses and David and Isaiah and Jesus and Paul all saying the same thing in one day, because I have been in them all, it makes me sit up and pay attention to what the Lord is trying to speak into my life on that particular day. The Word of God works in our lives, if we'll spend time in it, and let it spend time in us.
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it IS the Word of God, and it is the best way to get to know Him personally. He reveals Himself in His word--His nature and character and values and desires and commandments and will. To know the Word is to know the Lord.
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it is the Sword the Spirit uses to do battle on my behalf in the heavenly realms. It is the weapon of my warfare against every wicked scheme of the devil. He is deceptive and seductive and completely destructive in everything he says and does. But with the Word of God as my offense and defense, the Spirit can employ it through proclamation and prayer to defeat him in my life.
I read the Word of God over and over and over again because it never fails to teach me something new. As I continually read and reread again and again, I see different things at different times that apply to the ever-changing nature of my life. I find answers to my questions, guidance for my steps, direction for my decisions. I receive strength and encouragement and help in present time of need, help I would not have if I had not been in the Word.
A stranger on a plane asked me one time, "Why do you keep reading that book? If you've read it once, don't you already know what it says?' To which I replied, "I keep reading it, over and over and over again, because it has more to say than any other book. And I want to know what it says!"
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