There are lots of ways to read the Bible. Sometimes you just have to try different things to see what works for you.
If your goal is simply to read through every part of the Bible, then a āread the Bible in a yearā plan can be a good way to go. The Coming Home Network has
a handy brochure with a reading plan. Basically, you stick a bookmark at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis), another in the middle of the Old Testament at the start of the Wisdom books (Psalms) and then a third at the start of the New Testament (Matthew). Then you pretty much read a little bit from each of those three sections every day. I think thatās a better approach than just starting from Genesis and going straight through because it mixes things up more. Otherwise, it can be easy to get discouraged and lose interest once you hit Leviticus.
Another way to read through the Bible is the method promoted by the
Great Adventure Bible Timeline. Since a lot of us might become familiar with some of the stories in the bible without ever seeing the āBig Pictureā of how those stories fit together, the Great Adventure provides a way to first read through the narrative books of the Bible to get the sense of that āBig Pictureā. Those 14 narrative books are: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke, and Acts. They produce a handy little
Bible Timeline Chart that makes a good reference point. In addition to a timeline of those 14 books, it also shows where the other 59 books fit in chronologically. That is particularly helpful in identifying the time and audience for the writings of the prophets. So, basically, you read those 14 books first to get the sense of the story. Then you read through them again inserting the other 59 books in chronologically as you see them on show up on the chart. By the end, you will have read through the whole Bible and have a better sense of where all the pieces fit.
If you are just looking to delve deeper into Scripture without any sort of time constraint, then the best way to read through is a method known as
Lectio Divina. Itās a method used by many of the great saints to read through Scripture in a prayerful way, which is always a good thing to do.
This tends to be a much slower way to read through the Bible, though.
I think there are pluses to any approach. Sometimes, It is kind of neat to sit down and read through one of the Gospels in one sitting. You really get the sense of the structure that way. But then it is also nice to move slowly and dwell on every verse. I recommend using both approaches at different times. Reading through in different ways can yield different insights.
The most important thing is just to get started and donāt give up.
