Challenge

Well, I have a challenge for all of you blog readers out there...  As you may have realized over the extended weekend, the beginning of June is upon us!  This blows me away, mainly because we are moving sometime before July comes.. eek!!

Anyway, to celebrate the beginning of June, I wanted to challenge each of you (who are not already doing so) to commit to reading through the Bible in a year.  So far I have been keeping up with my reading plan (even though I have been a little slack in posting each book's theme), and it has really been beneficial for me.  In my opinion, reading the Old Testament gives so much more depth and insight into the New Testament.  I think that this says it all:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.   (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

Now, I know that many of you have excuses for why you can't do a reading plan.  Believe me, I had my own excuses too!!  So let me offer you a few ways to overcome some of the most common excuses:

1. I don't have the time.  Try picking an accommodating reading plan then.  The plan that I use, the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan, requires less than 20 minutes per day.  It is also very forgiving of busy schedules because there are only 25 daily readings per month.  I also appreciate the way that it splits up the Old Testament and the New Testament so that you have 2 readings per day from the OT and 2 readings per day from the NT.  It's VERY doable.  The other option for those who are crunched for time would be to do 1/2 of the daily reading each day so that the year-long plan extends to cover 2 years.  The point is not how fast you can read through the Bible but is more so being regularly engaged with all of Scripture.  

2.  I don't like/am not good at reading.  Try listening to an audio Bible then.  There are several good ones that you can buy, but there are also many free options too.  Bible Gateway has great audio recordings by Max McLean (I know this is true for the ESV translation, anyway).  If you go to their website and search for the passage you should read (ex. 1 Kings 1-3), just scroll down and under the translation/page options heading, you'll see a grey bar with options for moving forward or backward.  To the right of that bar is a red volume button, which if clicked will bring a pop-up window (pop-ups must be allowed) with the audio recording of exactly what you searched for, even if it's more than one chapter.  

3.  I'm not organized enough/can't keep up with where I am in the reading.  This was a huge one for me because I'm such a perfectionist..  But trust me, you don't have to make this into a huge perfect project.  Keep it simple.  Try using some kind of page marker (see my example in the image to the right) to keep up with exactly what chapter you are on (this is just a cut up sticky note) that way you can use the reading plan as a guide (not a perfectionistic rule).  For example, even if I'm only supposed to read two chapters of 1 Kings, sometimes I lose track of the chapters because the story is so good, and the next thing I know, I'm three chapters past where I should have stopped.  No problem, just mark it!  In that case, I might skip the 1 Kings part of my reading plan during the next day's reading (since I'm already ahead on it) and just resume it on the following day.  See, no need for perfectionistic tendencies to keep you from enjoying reading through the Bible.  :)

4.  The Bible is just too hard to understand. But it really isn't...  I agree that you probably won't have the same level of understanding as someone with a seminary degree the first or second time that you read through it, but the Bible really was written to regular people, like you and me.  My advice is twofold: read thoughtfully and try to understand the way that each passage fits into the greater redemptive story that God has given us perfect insight into, and then reference a good study bible (like the ESV Study Bible) from time to time when you really get hung up.


Welp, there you have it.  Those are the main reasons that have kept me from being faithful in reading through the entire Word of God for so long.  And believe me, they are overcome-able (if that's even a word..), so don't let silly excuses keep you from committing!!   Give it a go and stick with it!
You will not regret it.