New Year’s Resolution
Over the past few days, I’ve been getting plenty of ads for New Year’s resolutions. I have to say, I really enjoy the prospect of a new year to kick off a new habit. I have a bunch of plans I’m really excited to kick into action, and hopefully, some of them will stick.
In the last couple of days, I’ve been delighted to receive some emails inviting me to take on a new Bible reading plan for 2025. I’m glad that Christian ministries are trying to get people to read their Bibles more.
Toward the end of 2009, I was encouraged to think seriously about my Bible reading plan. I made a commitment to read the whole Bible each year from then on.
To many people, that sounds like a great plan for January, but completely unachievable once life kicks in and February swallows up our well-intentioned fantasies. But for me, this plan was different.
I’ve just finished reading Revelation 22, meaning I’ve just completed round fifteen. My intention in sharing this is not to point to how good I am at sticking to a New Year’s resolution. My wife can list about two hundred other plans I’ve come up with and miserably failed at. Our garage is filled with sad relics testifying to this sobering reality.
I’m sharing this because I want to convince fellow Christians that good Bible reading habits—whether it’s a Bible-in-a-year or something else—are important and achievable.
Here are three things that have helped me in my Bible reading over the past 15 years
Conviction
First of all, you need to be convicted that reading the Bible is important. In fact, with any New Year’s resolution, you have to be convicted that it’s important. Why would you commit to something that’s not important?
I reckon that in any given situation, we always make the decision that we think is the best at the time the decision is made.
We may make a stupid decision or even a sinful one, but at the moment we make the decision, we make that decision because we think it’s the best decision to make.
If we decide to read the Bible every day, we make that decision because we think it’s the best decision to make in these circumstances.
When we choose to skip reading the Bible on day three of the new plan so we can focus on extra sleep/breakfast/gym/time with family, we choose that other thing because we think it’s the best decision to make at that moment. We justify it because it’s a one-off or something—I’ll just read the Bible tomorrow. And then tomorrow becomes August. The worries of life usurp our good intentions.
We need to be convicted that reading the Bible is really, really important. It’s hard to think of two better parts of the Bible to help with conviction than 2 Timothy 3:15-17 and Psalm 119. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 says:
15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So, the Scriptures:
Make us wise;
Lead us to salvation;
Bring us to faith in Christ Jesus;
Are breathed out by God himself;
Are useful for teaching;
Are useful for rebuking (showing what not to do);
Are useful for correcting (showing what to do);
Training us in righteousness;
Thoroughly equip us for every good work;
Then, when you read Psalm 119, you find that God’s Word:
Brings blessing (Psalm 119:1–2);
Protects us from sin (Psalm 119:11);
Is delightful (Psalm 119:16, 103, 174);
Preserves life (Psalm 119:25, 37);
Comforts us (Psalm 119:50);
Strengthens us (Psalm 119:28);
Gives us hope (Psalm 119:43, 49, 74, 81, 114, 147);
Stands firm forever (Psalm 119:89);
Gives understanding (Psalm 119:99–100, 104, 130, 169);
Directs us (Psalm 119:105, 133);
Is true (Psalm 119:142, 151, 160);
Leads to praise (Psalm 119:164, 171);
If you want to commit to good Bible reading habits, you need to be convinced that this is true. I wouldn’t have made it fifteen years without this conviction.
2. Diligence
Next up, you need to be diligent. This is where I fail on most of my New Year’s resolutions. It’s one thing to be convicted. It’s another thing to come up with a plan. It’s yet another thing to stick to a plan.
The plan might be to read the Bible daily and get through it in a year. It might just be committing to reading one verse one day a week. It doesn’t matter how big or small your plan is—if you’re not diligent, it won’t happen. The worries of this world will usurp your best intentions.
My Plan
You could probably fault my plan and process in many ways. But there is a plan. And that plan helps.
Basically, at the start of each year, I set up four separate streams of Bible reading plans. One for the Psalms, one for the Old Testament, one for Acts and the Gospels (I like to kick off the year in Acts), and one for the Epistles.
I’ve just set up my plan for next year. In a joke between me and myself, I call this the Robinsonian Lectionary. Here are some screenshots:
If I had no plan, I would have no chance of achieving my goal, no matter what it was. I’d just forget to do it and give up
Your Plan?
What will work for you? I’ve shared my process with people in the past; as far as I’m aware, nobody has copied me. This particular plan works for me but won’t work for everyone.
For most people, a simple notes app on your phone would do the trick. So, if you wanted to read through John’s Gospel in 21 sittings over January, you list the chapters—1 to 21—and add tickboxes.
Each day, as you read the passage, you can try and answer these three questions (whether in your head or in a note):
What is the passage about?
What does it teach about God and/or Jesus and/or the gospel?
How does this impact how I think, speak or act?
And then you can pray in response to what you’ve read.
It’s a simple plan. But it’s a plan. And dare I say, a good plan.
3. Realism
Next up, you need to be realistic. Here’s the reality: you’re probably going to fall behind in your plan. You get COVID for a week. Your schedule goes crazy for a few days. Something big and unexpected happens. That’s life. You have to expect that. It’s ok.
If you look at my Bible reading plan, you’ll see that I have none scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, and that I end the plan in med-December. Why? Because I need buffer space. I know that I’m going to fall behind. And I know that if I make the catch-up effort too hard, I’m going to give up.
Let me get vulnerable with you. I’m a pastor, and some days I don’t read my Bible. Life happens, and I skip. And, importantly, I forgive myself, and I jump back on the horse. I don’t beat myself up about it. All the stuff I said about the Bible before is true, and therefore the Bible is worth reading. But all the stuff in the Bible points to a God of grace who forgives us for our sins. It’s kind of the main point.
I use Logos Bible Software for my Bible reading plan, and, somewhat controversially but unapologetically, I use it for my Bible reading too (with notifications switched off). I know you’re judging me! I bet people who read the Bible on scrolls judged people for reading the Bible in book form as well. Scrolling is the Old School way.
I really appreciate that Logos makes it easy to re-jig my plan if I fall quite behind (a day or two is easy to catch up on).
Other Bible Software offers similar features. If, like me, you like having dates next to the passages you’re reading but you’re using a note on your phone, you can probably adjust it in seconds by coping and pasting into AI.
What Are You Waiting For?
So, what are you waiting for? Dig in.
The Scriptures are God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, leading to salvation, faith in Christ, and equipping us for every good work, while bringing blessing, protection, delight, life, comfort, strength, hope, understanding, direction, truth, and leading us to praise.
Who wouldn’t want to commit to reading a book like that?
