Should you read the Bible?<\/p>\n
Jesus says, \u201cBlessed . . . are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!\u201d (Luke 11:28)<\/p>\n
How will reading the Bible bless you?<\/p>\n
Paul writes, \u201cAll 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 competent, equipped for every good work\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16-17).<\/p>\n
How then should you read God\u2019s Word?<\/p>\n
Those same verses from Paul imply that we should read all <\/i>of it, since every part of it is profitable.<\/p>\n
Surely also you should read it daily<\/i>; in addition you should read it submissively<\/i>. In Proverbs 8, personified Wisdom cries out:<\/p>\n
\u201cHear<\/span> instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it<\/span>. Blessed is the one who listens to me<\/span>, watching daily<\/span> at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death<\/span>“ <\/b>(Proverbs 8:33-36, emphasis added). <\/b><\/p>\n But what does this look like on a day to day and year to year basis?<\/p>\n If we are to read the Bible daily, with a goal of reading it in its entirety, we will need a plan. I first followed an annual, comprehensive Bible reading plan in 1984. This plan was purely chronological; I began reading with Genesis 1 on January 1 and finished with Revelation 22 on December 31, but in between the plan guided me through Scripture in the order in which events and prophecies occurred. This was eye-opening to me. Though I had grown up in church and in fact had read all of Scripture previously, I had never before seen the overall flow of God\u2019s plan of redemption. In particular, the writings of prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah became much more meaningful to me as I read them in conjunction with the historical books. In addition, many psalms came to life as I read them in the context of surrounding events.<\/p>\n I followed chronological plans several more times in subsequent years. However, there are significant weaknesses in following such a plan repeatedly for your daily devotional reading. First of all, you read nothing from the New Testament for more than nine months of the year. Second, a strictly chronological plan jumps around in the four Gospels. The reader therefore misses what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John communicate through the way they each order and select from the events of Jesus\u2019 life. Finally, following chronological plans requires a lot of page flipping.<\/p>\n So in December of 2000, I developed the Bible Unity Reading Plan<\/a>, which yields the benefits of a chronological approach while avoiding these weaknesses.\u00a0 The Bible Unity Plan has two tracks for each day. The longer track \u2013 the left hand column in each day\u2019s reading \u2013 is chronological. The second track, in the right column, is a shorter reading from another part of Scripture. This second track includes Mark, Luke, and John \u2013 read straight through \u2013 and several epistles while the chronological track makes its way through the Old Testament; it then focuses on Psalms and Proverbs while the chronological track takes you through the remaining books of the New Testament. And with only two passages to read most days, there is minimal page-flipping. The Plan also follows a helpful feature of the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan<\/i><\/a>, scheduling only 25 days of reading per month. This allows you to read something else on Sundays (which I like to do), or to catch up easily if you miss an occasional day.<\/p>\n