I'm excited at the reality of actually finishing a "read through the entire Bible" schedule. I have 12 more "days" to go. It will probably take me a little more than 12 days. I can't seem to find as much time on the weekends. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't want to have the attitude that I'm just reading to check off a list. I've been relaxed with it. Some days I read more than the day's selection, some days less and some days none at all. I didn't want this to be a race to get through the Bible, I wanted to enjoy the reading, and I am.
I have experienced many benefits on this reading program. I think the biggest benefit is the discipline it has brought. I realize now that I have more time in my day to read the Bible than I thought. I find myself sitting down to read for 5 minutes instead of checking facebook. I find that I can read in more situations than I previously thought--with noisy kids, for example. :)
When I finish with this reading schedule, I will start back at the beginning of the Bible, this time on a different schedule. It is a schedule consisting of 8 chapters a day, one chapter from each of the following sections--Torah, historical, poetic, wisdom (Proverbs), prophetic, gospels, epistles, and Revelation (why Revelation? Because it all ties together here.). When I heard of this schedule in the past, I thought I didn't have time for it, but now I realize I do.
Naturally we gravitate to our favorite parts of the Bible. The parts that are uplifting and make us feel good, perhaps a Psalm or Proverb each day. That is all good, but II Timothy 3:16 tells us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine (the basics of what we believe to be truth), reproof (examples of what not to do), correction (things we need to fix), and instruction in righteousness (how to live right). But if all we are ever reading are just the "feel good" passages, we won't be learning doctrine (essential if you are ever going to mentor another or pass on your belief system to your children) or experiencing growth in our faith and character. We need the well-rounded diet of the whole Bible. It's like at mealtime you eat your meat, veggies, bread, and some dessert. Hopefully you're not eating dessert for every meal, and this is the attitude we need to take with our Bible reading. No doubt reading the whole Bible will bring up lots of questions and then these are the areas you can do further study in. Find a good commentary, dig further into the individual Hebrew and Greek words, their roots, other scripture references that contain the same word, etc. Start a journal of your questions, like mentioned here.
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