For years I’ve made a practice of reading through the Bible once each year. I’ve used a number of reading plans and translations, but usually I just read straight through, about three chapters each day.
Many find this either tedious or downright impossible, for a variety of reasons. They stop to meditate on a verse or chapter. Some others are distracted chasing cross references. Still others put the Bible down and go online to see what commentators have said.
Meditation, cross-referencing, and research all are good, and should be done, but they will defeat you every time if your goal is to read it through. In other words, there are several different kinds of Bible reading, or interacting with God’s Word.
What through-reading does for you is to acquaint you with the whole Bible, by definition. Many never have read Obadiah, Habakkuk, or Zephaniah, whose very names are cool to the touch. We tend to read the things we like, over and over, leaving much unread.
A second thing an annual reading will do is to help fill in gaps in your general Bible knowledge. Lots of believers don’t know whether Noah was before or after Moses, and have no clue whether Hezekiah was a prophet, king, or Joseph’s Cocker Spaniel.
Next, a reading of the whole Bible exposes you to the whole counsel of God, and a sense of how it all fits together. Countless Christians can not really give you a general timeline of Creation, Fall, Flood, Babel, Patriarchs, Exodus, etc., etc., or tell the story of redemption.
Finally, in reading all of God’s Word, you will discover new perspectives on Jesus. Our Old Testament points toward Him, and the New Testament flows from Him.
You don’t have to wait until January 1st to do this. Often it’s a broken New Year’s resolution just waiting to happen, anyway. You can begin any time. Just mark your place each day, and keep plodding. And if it takes more than a year to finish, that’s okay, too.
A bonus, of course, is that in accomplishing this relatively simple task, you cultivate some self-discipline. You know, in case you’re in need of that kind of thing.
“And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
Luke 29:27