MrsDrPoe: Reading the Bible in a Year

Another Theology Thursday is upon us!  A few weeks ago, I challenged you (and myself) to adopt a Bible book.  As I shared, my plan of attack is to read the gospels several times and then pick one to adopt.  A brief update on my own headway in this challenge: I've decided to attempt to read all four gospels once a week from October - December; then I will make my choice and read my adopted gospel once a week during 2012.  I suggested when I first presented the challenge that we couple this weekly reading with the reading of commentaries, etc. on our chosen book AND with the reading through of the Bible in a year.  Today I'd like to share with you a few example schedules for reading the Bible in an entire year, in hopes that, even if you choose not to adopt a book at this time, you'll find the task of reading all of God's word in a relatively short amount of time a bit less daunting.

The Full-Speed-Ahead Approach

This approach to reading the Bible in a year is the simplest by far:

All you do is read straight through the Bible, 3-4 chapters a day if you want to read 7 days of the week OR 4-5 chapters a day if you want to read 5 days of the week.  Only one bookmark is required.

The Little-Bit-of-Everything Approach

This approach is an extension of the Summer Bible Reading Challenge chart I borrowed from Mr. Ellis:

Using this plan, you will read a little from the Law/History, Wisdom/Prophets, and the New Testament each week.  The average number of chapters you read each day are the same as with the first approach; however, reading from different sections of the Bible may help you 1) focus more on what you're reading and 2) make more connections between different Bible books.

The Legacy-Reading Approach

This approach was actually developed by Hank Hanegraaff in order to encourage daily Bible reading:

 

The title of the program is actually an acronym for Hanegraaff's Bible reading suggestions:

Location - reading in a private, quiet place

Essence - comprehension of God's communication by reading whole books

Genre - better understanding through realization of types of literature

Author - grouping books written by the same person

Context - grouping books next to related books (Rev next to OT prophecy, etc.)

Year - reading once a year, every year, for the rest of your life

Using this plan you'll read 3 or 5 chapters per day depending on whether you're reading 7 or 5 days a week, respectively, in addition to 3 Psalms/week (you'll read this book once per year) and 1 chapter of Proverbs/day (you'll read this book 12 times per year).


Personally, I think I'll try the third approach in 2012; it looks interesting, and it's a method I haven't tried before.  Whether you use one of these schedules or not, I hope that this challenge helps inspire you to become a daily Bible reader!  

As another form of encouragement, feel free to comment about your progress and/or struggles.  I'll do the same periodically, and together we'll hold ourselves accountable.  Sound like a plan?