Reading the Bible through has been a blessing enjoyed by my wife, Linda, and me each of the last three years. We have used the reading plan devised by Robert Murray M'Cheyne in the early 19th Century. A Scottish pastor who died at the age of 29, M'Cheyne's system of reading four different passages each day enables a person to read all of the Bible once in a year, plus Psalms and the New Testament twice. D.A. Carson has written four volumes of For the Love of God to go along with M'Cheyne's reading plan. You may find M'Cheyne's plan here. You may read a devotional from Carson each day on one of the readings here.
M'Cheyne's plan has been valuable to us, but there are also several other plans for reading the Bible in a year. Justin Taylor recently blogged on reading plans here and provided links to several other options. I encourage you to check a few out to see which one would fit your schedule and preferences best. The goal need not be to finish the Bible in a year but to read it at whatever pace you can so that you might know the God of the Bible better.
In today's sermon on Luke 10:38-42, I talked about what I believe to be a vital truth in that passage: We should learn how Jesus has served us in order to serve Him and others. Jesus has served us by His life, death and resurrection. Who He is and what He has done is the heart of the gospel. As Christians, we need to grow in our understanding of the gospel and its benefits. As I said today, I think many of us -- as Christians -- are impaired in our daily lives because we don't comprehend what Jesus has accomplished for us, what the gospel really means for us.
For this, I recommended a reading plan I recently read about that is based on a book more than 100 years old. That book, How to Master the English Bible, explains a system of reading a book of the Bible in one sitting over and over until the reader has mastered that particular book -- or, as at least one writer said, the book has mastered him. You may read what one evangelical Christian wrote about it here.
While repetitive reading of any book would be profitable, I recommended today four books for more fully understanding the gospel and its effects: Romans; Galatians; Ephesians, and Colossians. I would suggest starting with Colossians (four chapters) or Galatians (six chapters).
May God bless you this year for His glory as you feed on the gospel of Jesus.
Reading Colossians! Started yesterday, so I've read it 3 times so far. It's funny how I've noticed different words each time. Thanks for this idea.
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