A few years ago I set out to really get involved in reading the bible every day. I mean, reading large chunks of it. I started looking for and trying out several different whole bible reading methodologies and failed to complete many of them. Mostly, because I wasn’t quite ready for the task at first but many of them offered a systematic way to read that bible that was nothing more than a calendar based daily set of chapters. I soon found out that not only do I need a system but the system itself needs to be interesting enough to keep me going. After starting and stopping several plans over the years I have locked on to three systems that I have been able to complete with regularity.
Five Psalms and One Proverb a Day
Reading five psalms and proverbs every day is a great system to help you start reading large chunks of scripture during your day. I really like this system because I have to calculate the next psalm to read. I am a nerd at heart and to incorporate any kind of math into my reading keeps my interest high. The math is in the five psalms a day. Your first psalm and one proverb for the day will be the numerical date of the day on the calendar. Today is the 18th of February so I will begin reading Psalm 18. After reading psalm 18, you add 30 to 18 and the next psalm will be 48. Keep adding thirty until you cannot go any higher or you reach five psalms. For today I read Psalms 18,48,78,108,138. Then I read Proverbs 18. I have done this nearly every day now for over two years and it has helped my worship and prayer immensely.
Professor Horner’s Bible Reading System
Professor Horner is an Associate Professor at Master College in Santa Clarita, California. He has devised a system of bible reading that is very interesting and has kept my attention for a few years. He divides the bible into ten lists, Gospels, Pentateuch, Major Epistles, Minor Epistles and Revelation, Poetry, Psalms, Proverbs, Acts, History, Prophets.
You read a chapter starting at the beginning of each list and progress linearly through each list. Once you reach the end of the list, you start over at the beginning of that list. This begins an asymmetrical progression through the bible that comes up with very interesting combinations of verses for any specific day. You can get more of the details and free bookmarks here:
http://www.challies.com/sites/all/files/attachments/professor-grant-horners-bible-reading-system.pdf
Bible Read Through
You can read through the bible 3-4 times in a year. I’ve done it. It takes commitment and freeing yourself to actually enjoy reading the bible instead of trudging through it as we tend to do. R.N. Frost in his blog A Spreading Goodness, describes what he terms “Bible Read Throughs” which is a fast read through the Whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This takes a certain mindset as much of this reading is more like skimming through sections, especially the genealogies and laws. I have done a few bible read throughs and in 2014 I read through the bible 3 times in one year. Wow! It was life changing. Read Frost’s Bible Read Through post here:
What bible reading systems are you using?
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