One Month Bible Reading Challenge
Toward the end of 2021 I started thinking about what goals I wanted to set for 2022. My esteemed friend Grayson Gilbert wrote an article about goals setting in the spirit of Jonathan Edwards. I find that setting S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals helps keep me from squandering my time and lays out a clear path for achieving what I want to get done. Doesn’t work for everyone but it does for me.
Among what I have come to refer to as “the classics” (losing those extra pounds, fiscal responsibility, home improvement projects, etc) are items that are uniquely Christian in nature (Prayer, Fasting, Memorizing Scripture, Giving, Bible intake, Faithfulness in family devotions, giving others the Gospel, etc).
I think every believer that I know usually tries to make it through their favorite Bible at least once per year. When it comes to tackling this yearly task a quick google search will bring a virtual buffet of Bible Reading Plans before your eyes.
There are three-month plans, five-days per week plans, seven-days per week plans, ½ year plans, big ones, small ones, or the old classic–making it Numbers and then giving up until next year. I wanted to stretch myself a bit and began searching for a plan that would allow me to read the entire Bible in one month. The only plan that I could find included the apocrypha, so I decided to make my own. (See Below or Click Here for a pdf file).
A Few Rules I Set for Myself
I wanted most of the reading to be actual reading not just passive listening with an audio Bible. However, I did make use of an audio Bible in two areas: first, listening to some sections during my 10-minute commute to work. Second, on days that I was having a particularly hard time focusing I would play the audio while I followed along in my own Bible (the only thing that I was missing was that little tinkling sound to tell me when to turn the page).
Only reading when I wasn’t at the office. To test the feasibility of this challenge I wanted to only check off chapters that were read outside of my normal work schedule. Being a Pastor, it would be easier (not easy) for me to lock myself away in my office and really knock this challenge out but instead it was before and after work only.
Takeaways
It was harder than I expected it to be – This is a lot of reading and takes large blocks of time to accomplish. Because of the sheer amount of chapters that need read, getting behind on the schedule (which I did a few times) felt a lot like being stuck in quicksand.
Time management was key – I got up early, went to bed late, and cut out nearly all media consumption. If I had just tried to add this challenge into a “normal day”, I would never have gotten it done. I found that getting it done early in the morning before all my kids were awake was the best time).
Reading Vs Studying – keep in mind that you are NOT doing a deep study with this challenge. Approaching it as a sweeping tour of the Biblical landscape really helped speed things up for me.
Changes in my thinking – I found that my mind was saturated throughout the day with the things of God (more than usual).
It gave me something to brag about to my friends – ok this one is a joke. Just wanted to make sure you were still reading.
It was totally worth it – This was perhaps my biggest take away. What a magnificent God we serve. I didn’t miss the things that I cut out for a single second because I was getting to read my Lord’s Perfect Word from start to finish. The story of Redemption danced along the pages as I moved from the Garden to the throne Room of the Almighty at break-neck speed.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for a challenging opportunity to really take in God’s Word, I would point you toward this month-long feast:
Day Old Testament Psalm Proverbs Gospel New Test.
1 Ge 1-24 Ps 1-5 1 Mt 1-3 Ac 1-6
2 Ge 25-49 Ps 6-10 2 Mt 4-6 Ac 7-12
3 Ge 50- Ex 23 Ps 11-15 3 Mt 7-9 Ac 13-18
4 Ex24-Lv 8 Ps 16-20 4 Mt 10-12 Ac 19-24
5 Lv 9-Nu 5 Ps 21-25 5 Mt 13-14 Ac 24-28
6 Num 6-30 Ps 26-30 6 Mt 15-17 Rom 1-5
7 Num 31 – D18 Ps 31-35 7 Mt 18-20 Rom 6-11
8 D19 -Jos 9 Ps 36-40 8 Mt 21-23 Rom12-16
9 Jos 10- Jud 9 Ps 41-45 9 Mt 24-26 1C 1-6
10 Jud 10 – 19 Ps 46-50 10 Mt 27-28 1C 7-12
11 Jud 20-1Sam18 Ps 51-55 11 Mk 1-3 1C13-2C2
12 1Sam19-2Sam12 Ps 56-60 12 Mk 4-6 2C 3-8
13 2Sam 13- 1K13 Ps 61-65 13 Mk 7-9 2C 9-13
14 1K 14- 2K 16 Ps 66-70 14 Mk 10-12 Gal 1-6
15 2K17-1 Chr 16 Ps 71-75 15 Mk 13-15 Eph 1-6
16 1Chr 17-2Chr 12 Ps 76-80 16 Mk 16-Lk1 Phil 1-3
17 2Chr 13-Ez1 Ps 81-85 17 Lk 2-4 Phil4- Co4
18 Ez 2- Esther 3 Ps 86-90 18 Lk 5-71 1Th 1-5
19 Esther 4 – Job 18 Ps 91-95 19 Lk 8-10 2Th 1-1T3
20 Job 19-42, Ecc 1 Ps 96-100 20 Lk 11-13 1T4-2T3
21 Ecc 2- Isa 6 Ps101-105 21 Lk 14-16 2T4-Phlm
22 Isa 7 – 31 Ps106-110 22 Lk 17-19 He 1-6
23 Isa 32 – 56 Ps111-115 23 Lk 20-22 He 7-12
24 Isa 57- Jer 15 Ps116-120 24 Lk 23-Jn1 He13-Ja5
25 Jer 16 – 40 Ps121-125 25 Jn 2- 4 1Pt 1-5
26 Jer 41 – Ez 8 Ps126-130 26 Jn 5-7 2Pt 1-1Jn3
27 Ez 9 – 33 Ps131-135 27 Jn 8-10 1Jn4-2Jn
28 Ez 34 – Dan 10 Ps136-140 28 Jn 11-13 3Jn-Rev1
29 Dan 11 – Amos 5 Ps141-145 29 Jn 14-15 Rev2-7
30 Amos 6 – Zep 3 Ps146-150 30 Jn 16-18 Rev 8-13
31 Hag 2 – Mal 4 Ps 151 31 Jn 19-21 Rev 14-22
Original Article posted on One Month Bible Reading Challenge | Guest Contributor (patheos.com)