The Importance of a Daily Bible Reading Plan

Throughout the Bible, we see instructions to spend time reading it and studying it. In Joshua 1:8, we see an instruction to not let it depart from our life.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

In this passage, God is giving a command to Israel to spend time in the Book of the Law. They were to read and study it. In the same way that God instructed the Israelites to read and study the Book of the Law, Jesus, when He was being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4:4, recalled from memory God’s command live by every word from the mouth of God.

“But he answered, ‘It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”

It is difficult to obey God’s command to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God if we do not know what the Bible says. For that reason, it is important to read and study the Bible.

Given that Christians are instructed to read the Bible, there are two main ways to read the Bible: reading for intimacy and reading for familiarity. When someone reads for intimacy, the purpose is to read the Bible, often at a rate of several verses per day, with the goal of gaining a deeper knowledge of God and His purposes and making applications to specific areas of life. When someone reads for familiarity, the purpose is to read the Bible, often at a rate of several chapters per day, with the goal of seeing the grand story of God’s redemption plan unfold across the pages of scripture.

To this end, a Bible reading plan is helpful in accomplishing the task of daily Bible reading. Whether it is a yearly Bible reading plan focusing on reading for familiarity or a plan with an in-depth study of a particular book or chapter, a reading plan is imperative.

While there are many different in-depth “intimacy” plans, this article is going to focus on the different “familiarity” plans with the goal of selecting a yearly plan. Most yearly Bible reading plans will fall into one of two categories: Canonical or Chronological.

1. Canonically — Read Straight Through the Bible

Reading through the Bible canonically means reading through the books in the order that they appear in the Bible. This can include beginning in Genesis and reading straight forward to Revelation, splitting up the Old Testament and the New Testament and simultaneously reading through both, or some other combination of this.

The Blue Letter Bible Canonical Plan begins in Genesis and goes straight through the Bible to Revelation. Every day of the week, there is a reading that will take you through the whole Bible in the course of a year.

The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan is a canonical plan that has two readings from the Old Testament and two readings from the New Testament each day. There are twenty-five readings each month giving the several “free” days to catch up or read another passage.

2. Chronologically — Read Through the Bible in the Order the Events Happened

Reading through the Bible chronologically means reading through the Bible in the order that the events happened. This can either include reading through the chronology of the Old Testament and then reading through the chronology of the New Testament or simultaneously reading through the chronology of the Old Testament and the New testament.

The Five Day Bible Reading Schedule is a chronological plan that simultaneously goes through both the Old Testament and the New Testament. As the name implies, it has readings for five days each week to allow for catch-up or other reading/study on the weekends.

While there is great value to reading through the Bible in a year, for some people reading the entire Bible might be a little much. To that end, the 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan was created. This is a reading plan that goes through the entire New Testament in the course of a year. It takes about five minutes a day to complete five day of the week. In addition to the reading, you can pick one of five ways to dig deeper into the daily reading.

These are just four out of many yearly Bible reading plans. While there are many to choose from, the important thing is to select one and read the Bible every day. If you have a plan to read through the Bible and dedicate the time to it, by this time next year, you can have read through the entire Bible!

For further discussion on the topic of intimacy or familiarity, see the article by Tim Challies titled “Intimacy or Familiarity”