I was a thirty-eight year old mother of five when I read through the Bible for the very first time. Raised in a Christian home, a graduate of a Christian university, and a former pastor’s wife.
Countless years I opened my Bible to Genesis in January, making my way through Exodus and Leviticus over time– always slowing and getting stuck by the time Numbers came. One year I even got creative. With enthusiasm, I started in Matthew, only to stall halfway through Luke, while reading the third account of the stories of Jesus.
I grew up with those stories, complete with flannel-graph characters and cracker snacks. Many Bible passages were familiar to me, and I could get around my Bible fairly well.
But I felt inadequate–scripturally handicapped.
How could I really understand my faith, and get to know God’s heart of love toward me, if I hadn’t even read all His words to me?
Reading my Bible had seemed like a chore; boring and cumbersome, and beyond my understanding at times.
Yet God’s message became so clear, once I read every word for myself.
God’s Word is a message of mercy, not condemnation–for relationship, not rules. [Tweet that]
So. What made the difference?
I joined the women’s ministry leadership team at our new church, and began a six-week mandatory training for leaders. Six weeks that would be more than just training for me. It would become life-altering surgery for my spiritual heart.
On that first night of training, I was handed a daily Bible reading schedule and a scripture memory plan. I’d be required to read and journal each day, and at the beginning of each week, there would be a memory verse test and a journal inspection.
I won’t lie. I drove home angry that first night.
Forcing me to read, and inspecting my journal seemed intrusive and unnecessary. But I wanted to be in leadership, and determined to press through.
That July began the first year I read my entire Bible, journaling and praying my way through. In the five years since, I’ve read through my entire Bible every year. And if I can do it, you have to know, you can too.
What I thought was boring or too hard to understand, became exciting and challenging to learn. I wrestled through seeming contradictions, became surprised by new discoveries, and for the first time, began to understand the overarching love story our Bible holds–a love story which made me fall in love with God in deeper ways than I ever thought possible, and created a craving for time with Him I had never known.
3 Tips for Reading Through the Bible for the First Time
1. Get a schedule and simply begin
A schedule will make it easier to fit Bible reading into your day. Instead of floundering around, wondering where to read, you’ll simply read what is on the schedule. There’s no perfect time to begin, so just do it. Will there be days you’ll miss? Yes. But the most important part is to simply begin, new, each and every day.
2. Use a Chronological Version
Our Bible is canonized with similar books grouped together, making it confusing at times. Nothing made the Bible more interesting to me, than to read it’s books in the order the events historically happened. I learned things I never understood before, and was able to grasp the overall story in a new and exciting way.
3. Ask a Friend to do it with you
There is no doubt, accountability works. Those first six weeks were only possible because of it. So after that, I chose to continue. I asked a group of friends to read daily with me. We texted or emailed each other as soon as we read for the day, sharing our thoughts about our reading. Knowing I was not alone, made all the difference for me.
~Jacque Watkins jacquewatkins.com
What is your biggest challenge to reading the Bible every day?
What tips do you have?
Jacque Watkins is a mercy lover, and champion of second chances, who knows God’s mercy can find you too.
Thanks Jacque! I needed the swift kick in the pants. I’ve gotten lazy about my reading lately.
Arm in arm, in our pants, marching forward friend, each new day at a time. I am with you 🙂
This is the third year I wil read the Bible through. The kicker for me was when I read that, if you read 15 min each day, you will have read the Bible in a year. Totally simplified it for me. I read according to a plan in my You Version app so I can have it read to me on days my littlest one needs my hands and attention more. I also bought a chronological Bible to read as a family at the dinner table. We likely wont make it through the whole Bible this year but we are starting to make it a habit and, one day, we will. Can you imagine kids growing up who have heard the entire Bible like 10 times?
A few minutes a day, yes! I also have used YouVersion to read to me while I drive, love that! And what a great idea to read out loud with the kids…a family perspective discovering the greatest story of all time. Wonderful. Blessings to you Tessa!
Last year I was part of a study through my church called “The Story”. It was about 30 weeks long and the weekly small groups study coincided with the sermons on Sunday. The study took you through all the books of the bible touching on each of the major stories. It was great; I too have such a difficult time getting into the word daily, especially just reading along without a structure. There is a book called The Story by Max Lucado & Randy Frazee which accompanies the study and it’s basically the NIV bible as one long continuing story. I found it as a great reference tool when I would get stuck reading verses in the bible to refer to the chapter of The Story to get back on track or catch the bigger picture.
Our church went through “The Story” last year too! And I agree, it is a wonderful reference to see the bigger picture of the story the Bible unfolds. Yes! Love that Sarah 🙂
Ditto on The Story! It’s the Bible with the chapter/versus numbers taken out. It’s written more like any other story you would read. They have a couple of kiddo versions too. The whole family did it!!
This was great timing for me, Jacque! I just ordered the ESV Daily Reading Bible that Ann Voskamp recommended on her blog last week. I am loving it because it makes it easy to get a daily dose in and breaks the Bible up into parts of 4 books a day. I have done the same as you, trying for a few January’s in a row to get in the habit, only to fall out when it came more drudgery than inspiration…I am resolved to do this, this year! Thanks for the encouragement and practical tips. Blessings,Meredith
You can do it Meredith…not because we have to–to check it off our list, but because we GET to! He is waiting…waiting to speak to us and through us, waiting to spend time with us. And I don’t want to miss Him even for a moment. Read on friend. I’m cheering for us all… and I am WITH you!
I have read through the Bible a number of times. I am now working on reading it via different versions. I always stall out when I fall behind and feel badly about not being able to catch up. This is encouraging and I’m thankful for it to share!
Oh Shanyn! I know how that feels. Oh how I know! May I humbly encourage you, and all of us??
Failure is never final unless we quit trying.
One day at a time, picking up where we last left off, new mercies every morning, staying faithful in our now, learning and growing no matter the quantity we read…more important is the the quality of our reading and how it builds our life–how we’re growing and changing to become more like Him. And there is therefore NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!! Press on friend. I’m pressing in with you, cheering all the way!! xoxo
[…] more great tips on reading through the Bible in a year can be found here. Jacque Watkins has a great guest post today on The MOB Society’s blog about this topic and […]
I agree! I am doing all three of these things (with my husband being my accountability partner), and it will be the first time I’ve read it completely through in a year. (I’m a 43 y.o. mother of four. 🙂 ) I am really enjoying the chronological approach, and I love when my hubby and I “share our water” for the day.
I would always get discouraged and behind when I would have a surgery or illness. However I have read the bible through. I used the chronological bible and a book mark. I read most days depending on my health. I finished in 2 years and 2 months.
The best tip I have for reading through the Bible is dailyaudiobible.com. It’s a daily podcast where they read some of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each day and has opened up the Bible to me. I always wanted to read through the Bible and would start, fall behind then get discouraged, give up and feel guilty and this has taken away all of that. Now I really look forward to hearing the Bible each day. I can’t wait for the next part of the story and to hear what God has to say to me each day!
[…] more great tips on reading through the Bible in a year can be found here. Jacque Watkins has a great guest post today on The MOB Society’s blog about this topic and […]