Bible Reading for a New Year

I love new years.  For so many reasons.

One of those is thinking about how I'm going to read the Bible.

I love "resolutions" - or, perhaps more accurately: reflections, goals, re-orientations and dreams - but I don't have many resolutions that slam into effect on January 1.  (The classic:  "I'm having my last chocolate bar / binge TV watch / lazy slob day on Dec 31, before chucking out the chocolate / cutting out TV / exercising on Jan 1.")  Not so much.

But Bible reading is an exception for me.  I generally love starting a new Bible reading plan on January 1.  My plan often changes over the course of the year, as I spend time with God in his Word, and seek to listen to him when I need to be corrected with truth, comforted by his gospel grace and promises, and convicted by his call to obedience.

I want my "plan" to have this flexibility because I've learned that a Bible reading plan is a great servant, and a terrible master.  A Bible reading plan shouldn't become a means of measuring ourselves, trying to impress others or recommend ourselves to God.  However, if kept in its place, it can be a beautiful means of knowing and loving God, treasuring his Word, and setting your eyes and heart upon Christ.  

This year, I'm planning to read the whole Bible.

It kinda sounds big to read the whole Bible.  It can be hard work.  But it's doable!  And wonderful and surprising and humbling.

I've read through the Bible in a year a few times.  I still vividly remember the first year I actually completed it.  The year was 2008.  I was a final year dentistry student, and had become a Christian in September 2005, just a few years earlier.  

I just read through the Bible straight - from Genesis to Revelation - following a plan I'd found on the internet, which laid out how many chapters to read each day.  Much of the Bible was still vastly unfamiliar to me, but I plodded away, day after day, reading and praying my way through it.  I still remember sitting up in my little nurses quarters bedroom at Toowoomba Base Hospital (where I did my semester 2 prac), reading the Bible in the chilly early morning, simultaneously listening to an audio Bible - something that I found was immensely helpful in comprehension, and keeping me on track.

My impressions after that first time of reading the whole Bible in a year?

• I still didn't understand lots of it.
• I couldn't even really remember some bits I'd read.
• I had less than fond memories of Numbers and Chronicles, particularly their opening genealogies (something which has most definitely changed for me now!)

BUT...

• I discovered some incredible, rich parts of the Bible that I didn't even know existed
• It helped me to start to see the "big picture" of the Bible.  The story of salvation history, and how it all fits together.
• I started to see how all Scripture looks to, moves towards and is interpreted in light of Jesus Christ and his cross (Luke 24:25-27).  (And as the years have passed, I've come to see, understand and be deeply moved by this more and more and more.)
• I started to see how rich the Old Testament is, and how it accentuates and deepens the significance of the New Testament, and the grace shown in our precious Lord Jesus.
• I was humbled by this story of salvation history. as I saw how much bigger God's plans are than just my little life, yet at the same time, blown away that I was invited to become not only part of this incredible story, but a valued and significant member of God's family.
• It prompted heaps of questions, and I longed to know and understand more... and perhaps most of all:
• It drew me closer to my God, and his precious Son, Jesus Christ, and made me long to know him better through his Word and his Spirit. 

Another story:  A few years ago, I decided to try to read the Bible in 60 days, and one of my now-graduated youth girls was keen to join me!  Very ambitious.  We didn't make it.  We only made it to about Joshua... but we both reflected that even reading the Pentateuch in a week was so eye-opening to key threads and themes, and amazing to see the story unfolding in these big and sometimes tricky books.

I don't read the Bible through every year.  This year (2016), I started with a one-year Bible reading plan, but I stopped it after a couple of months because I felt the need to read slower and dig deeper into some key books and passages - and I'm glad for it.  But I'm planning to read the whole Bible again this year. 

Specifically, my plan is:  after being totally inspired by this blog, I'm going to read as much of the Bible as I can during January (my uni holidays).  I love reading, so I'm excited about this, and meditating on large chunks of Scripture for a while.  Then, I'm hoping to continue on with more manageable readings each day for the rest of the year.  For this, I'll be following a "chronological" reading plan - a plan which follows the Bible story "as it happened" chronologically (so, some of the historical books will be interspersed with prophets like Isaiah, for example - because they happened at a similar point in time.)

If it's something you'd like to think more about, or if you'd like to join me in 2017, there's some great resources and websites out there.  Here are just a few suggestions:

• A blog with 7 reasons why to read the Bible in a year.  I deeply echo the reasons that Melissa Kruger gives in her blog.
• The chronological Bible reading plan I'm using this year
• A few different Bible reading plan options (mostly whole Bible or New Testament), most with pdf options that you can print out
• A printable chart if you'd like to read the Bible in your own order, at your own pace, yet track what you've read. (And it's pretty!)
• If you have questions about reading the Bible in a year:  a very comprehensive FAQ!

A few final thoughts, if you'd like to read the Bible through in a year, and haven't done it before:

• Go for it!  It might be hard, but give it a try.  Even if you don't get the whole way there, it's still well worth the effort.
• Consider a plan that has daily reading from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  (If you're more unfamiliar with the OT, it can feel like a long slog til you get to the Gospels.)
• An audio Bible really helped me, it might help you, too. 
• Don't be discouraged if you don't understand much of the Bible yet.  The more times I've read the Bible through, and have been studying the Bible, I'm getting to understand it more and more - and it is such a wonderful and precious thing!  We have a lifetime of walking with God and reading his Word - don't worry if there are some, or even lots, of bits that are confusing.
• Also don't be discouraged if you don't remember some of it!  (Same reasons as above.)
• If you have questions, find a mature Christian you know and trust, and ask them!  Great way to have some great conversations!
• Read Luke 24 - to hear on Jesus' lips how all the Scriptures ultimately point to him.
• If you would like to understand the "big picture" of the Bible better, check out "God's Big Picture" by Vaughan Roberts.  ("According to Plan" by Graeme Goldsworthy is also great - but it's a bit of a harder read.)

If you're a Christian, do you have any sort of a plan for reading the Bible in 2017? 

I'd love to hear!