Question about reading the bible

[hopeforfaith]

Well i wanted to read the bible and started the 3-week plan in the Good News Bible. But then i guess i was over-ambitious and then when i couldn’t sleep i couldn’t stop reading it. Now i am starting to dread reading it. Don’t get me wrong, i don’t hate the BIble. I still continue my 3 -week-plan. Its just that i feel happy when i don’t have to read it, like when i am going to the toilet. Because, you can’t really read the bible when you are going to the toilet, it’s kind of inappropriate. And when i think of i can choose other books to read, i am happy. I know it is kind of wrong… but can someone here help please?

 

[VictorE]

I assume that a 3 week plan is the entire Bible (OT & NT) in 3 weeks? That’s pretty ambitious.

I would take it easy. There’s nothing to gain by rushing through it. Read 15-30 minutes a day. Allow it to sink in, to speak to you.

 

[puzzleannie]

I don’t think a marathon reading plan like that will be much use. You have to stop to eat, sleep and do necessary duties of life, and yes answer calls of nature. I am sure whoever came up with that ambitious plan did not literally intend you to read 24/7. One year is a much more realistic and achievable goal. Even more sensible is a 3 year plan with the Sunday and daily lectionary readings. If you do it without a commentary of somekind - a reliable Catholic one - you probably will get discouraged and confused and quit anyhow.

the bible was not given to us over a 3 week period (or even a 3 year period) so there is no special advantage in inhaling it this way, which seems to allow now time for reflection or meditation on the Word of God, but becomes merely an academic or athletic exercise.

 

[team15]

To be able to fully understand and live the Word we have to read the Bible slowly and with full of wisdom.

 

[rotlex]

3 weeks? No wonder you are dreading it. The Bible is not meant to be read like a book, or finished quickly. The first time I read it in full, I followed a one year plan, and at times, even that was a bit too quickly for me to soak everything in.

Take your time. Read and attempt to comprehend and understand it; don’t rush to finish.

With that said, after reading through the first time, quite a few years ago, I find that subsequent reading is even more enjoyable as I don’t feel I need to “finish it”. I generally read the OT from start to finish, while breaking up the NT a bit, and coming back to each of the 4 Gospels in between. Now, a full read through takes me at least a year, sometimes more, as I truly attempt to let God’s word speak to me. There are certain days when I will read as much as a whole book, say, the Gospel of Mark, or at times, I’ll read as little as a sentence, or a paragraph.

Don’t rush it…enjoy every minute of it, and think of it as what it is. A very personal, IMHO, form of daily prayer.

 

[Newbie2]

I agree.

Scripture is too rich and full…like a fine meal…not like a hot-dog eating contest.

Take it a bit at a time, and you don’t need to read it “in order”. Start with Tobit, or another small book, maybe on of Paul’s letters like Phillipians. Go through Proverbs a few at a time.

There’s no rush.

PS, you might also consider reading a different version.

 

[Zooey]

I don’t think a marathon reading plan like that will be much use. You have to stop to eat, sleep and do necessary duties of life, and yes answer calls of nature. I am sure whoever came up with that ambitious plan did not literally intend you to read 24/7. One year is a much more realistic and achievable goal. Even more sensible is a 3 year plan with the Sunday and daily lectionary readings. If you do it without a commentary of somekind - a reliable Catholic one - you probably will get discouraged and confused and quit anyhow.

the bible was not given to us over a 3 week period (or even a 3 year period) so there is no special advantage in inhaling it this way, which seems to allow now time for reflection or meditation on the Word of God, but becomes merely an academic or athletic exercise.