An Old Journey Once More

Come with me!

I can’t tell you how many times I have read the Bible, but I can tell you that I have never regretted my time spent with the collection of 66 documents we call the Holy Bible. It is not only a great privilege, it is a life-changing exercise.

The very first sentence of the Bible catches my attention. It is not only an amazing statement, it is the beginning and the end of the story in just a few words.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1

I continue to read the Bible each year because I always see something new. Or rather, something new stands out to me. Perhaps it is a new station in life from which I read the Scriptures that brings my attention to a verse or story I never noticed before. Maybe it’s just a poor memory! I think it could be the guidance of the Holy Spirit, helping me to see something to which I need to pay attention.

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.  – Charles Spurgeon

I’ve read along with several different guides. Some of them have four readings per day, scattered throughout the Bible. Some plans just go through the New Testament in a year. Some begin at Genesis and end at Revelation. That might be the most intuitive, but it is not the one I like the best. For one thing, I won’t be reading the Gospels until late in the year! For another thing, that ignores that the Bible isn’t written like a novel in order of happenings. There are Chronological Bibles that attempt to rearrange the Scriptures into a more logical order. But that’s not for me either.

One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it and believe it.  – Leonard Ravenhill

My favorite plan is the Navigators Book At A Time plan. This plan begins Genesis (of course!), and leads readers through the entire book in the first 16 days. Following Genesis, the plan calls for us to read Mark’s Gospel. After that, it’s Exodus, followed by Acts. So, back and forth between the Old and New Testaments, reading entire books at a time. The only exception is that the Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah are given as an additional daily reading. For example, on the first day the plan suggests Genesis 1-2 and Psalm 1. That’s because in general, Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah are not in a chronological story-telling order.

The reasons I like this plan best:

• I want to read each book on it’s own, not chopped up and interspersed with other books that have no natural connection.

• I want to navigate between Old and New Testament. After 48 chapters of Ezekiel, I need to spend some time in John’s Gospel!

• There are some built-in days off, so if you get behind there are natural catch-up days.

For three different reading plans (and there are many more), check out the Navigator’s Reading Plans (my favorite one is the middle one!) by clicking HERE. You can download PDFs of each one.

One more reason, that does not relate to the plan itself, is that I use this plan on the Bible App / Youversion. That way, I can have it with me on my phone/tablet at all times. Also, I can invite friends to read along with me. If you’d like to read along with me, once you have the Bible App, just click HERE and I think it will open up our group that is reading together. (Note that there are several Bible reading plans on the YouVersion app).

But even if you do not join me on this old journey once more, I encourage you to make your way through the Scriptures in 2023. I believe that God has a word for you that will encourage you and strengthen your faith.

Before you get started, realize that…

• The Bible is an ancient document, not some AI fastlane expression of do’s and don’ts. It is not a 30 minute sitcom. It is filled with adventure, love, heartache, wonder, and it will provoke many questions.

• You (nor I) will understand everything we read. It is my experience that as I read sometimes the Bible answers questions that arise in my thoughts. Sometimes, though, we just aren’t meant to understand everything. If we understood it all, we’d be God. If you read the first six chapters of Genesis and have no questions, you should re-read!

• What you do understand as God’s teaching on how to live our lives today (primarily modeled in the life and teachings of Jesus), well, that you can put into action.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. - Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV

Finally, choose a version you can understand. One of the great blessings of our modern world is that there are so many excellent translations of the Bible. I usually try to read a different version each year. Last year I read the Legacy Standard Bible. I enjoyed that. This year I have my eye on the New English Translation. In our church, I typically preach from the NIV, ESV, or NLT. But reading different translations has its value. However, if you memorize Scripture (a great practice), you should probably stick with one!

Thanks for reading this post. If you have a favorite translation or Bible reading plan, I’d love to hear about it in the comments! Work hard, rest well, and stay connected. The world needs you.