Reading the Bible in one year... some tips

Reading the whole Bible in one year is not easy. But it definitely is doable. Here are some tips from my experience. Please feel free to comment and add your own.

I've read the Bible in one year twice before. The first time I found a regular time for reading which became part of the rhythm of my day. The second time I decided to carve out chunks of time to read each book as a whole (although some of the bigger OT books defeated me in one sitting!) Whether you're planning to read the Old Testament, the New Testament, or both, finding time to read and sticking to it will be the biggest challenge. So if you haven't already, I'd suggest having a think about when you will do your readings so that you don't get overwhelmed after a few weeks and give up.

You might be used to reading the Bible in small chunks, reflecting on each verse, or word, and meditating on how God might be speaking to your life. That won't work with so many verses to get through - it just won't. This is especially true if you are reading the Old Testament. Parts of it are duller than watching paint dry, and others are utterly incomprehensible. In order to make it, you just have to keep reading and worry about meaning later. I found that the dull bits and the confusing bits came alive in the end, but only because I stuck with it and could look back on them afterwards and see where they fitted.


mattwi1s0n's picture

Thanks for setting this up

Submitted by mattwi1s0n on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:49.

Thanks for setting this up Matt, and thanks for the invitation to be part of it.
Question: how are we going to interact with each other?
e.g. It's new year's day, probably for the only time in the next 364 days I'm up to date on the reading plan, is it up to me to post some thoughts (how?), or do you kick start the conversation and we comment?
M ;-)

Community of Readers's picture

How to interact with others

Submitted by Community of Readers on Thu, 31/12/2009 - 21:39.

How to interact with others about your reading:

Thanks Matt. The most classic way to interact is face-to-face, and exploring your reading with a physical group is highly recommended. But there's also various other online ways you can try:

1. On this site - visit the forum. Don't be overwhelmed by all the different forums within it - it's quite straightforward. There's some general community topics at the top, and then underneath you'll find a different forum for each of the weeks' readings. In each forum are 'topics'. There's a topic which comprises an article on that week's readings. And there's also a topic called 'Community Readings' - one for every forum. That's our space to think out loud together. Put anything you like there - questions, opinion, ideas, reflections, links. (By replying to specific posts - like I am here - you can develop threads within a topic.)

2. Elsewhere you can use Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites if that's helpful. For some ideas on how to do this see this page.

Cheers,
Matt

I definitely think that

Submitted by christisinn (not verified) on Fri, 02/01/2009 - 05:20.

I definitely think that reading a whole book or at least half of it and the other half the next day is a very worthwhile thing. It keeps the content fresh in your mind so that you can see the bigger picture more clearly.
I heard you can even read the whole NT in a weekend if you take the time. That would leave you saturated with the main teachings and maybe a shining face as well from all the glory. ;-)
Great page, keep going... God bless in Christ

reading the bible in a year

Submitted by sunglasses Andy on Fri, 02/01/2009 - 08:15.

reading the bible in a year is something I have tried before, and failed, basically because I tried it on my own, and had no room for discussion on what I was reading. I am hoping that as a community, and with some discussion on what we are reading, I will finish this year. Although I must say reading it for reading it sake doesn't really thrill me, i need to work out what God is aying in different places to me, after all the bible is written for us, and God speaks through it to us, so it isn't just for reading but for applying, reflecting, understadning, and apllying. great to have the community though, and lets help and encourage each other. from whereever we are from around the world.

—

andy

Matt Valler's picture

yeah you're absolutely right

Submitted by Matt Valler on Mon, 05/01/2009 - 23:03.

yeah you're absolutely right andy, this is definitely not about reading for reading's sake. I'm going to blog another post on this in a couple of days to try and articulate how I found the whole-Bible reading experience was profoundly God's word to me, but in a different way from how I had experienced it previously.