“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 ESV
I read the Bible every day. It is through the Scriptures that I know God, Christ, myself, and how to live in regards to God and my neighbor. I cannot think of any greater thing, except that in eternity I will know all of these much better than I do in this life.
Many make a New Year’s resolution to read the Bible more consistently than they have in the past, and many don’t stick to that resolution. Here is what works for me. Rather than using a reading schedule, with a listing of what chapters to read each day, I use a Bible reading checklist:
The GeoChristian Bible Reading Checklist – PDF file
It has all sixty-six books of the Bible with their chapters. I mark off each chapter as I read.
This system gives me greater flexibility than a schedule does, yet still helps me to reach my reading goals. This year I plan on reading the New Testament (probably twice), the wisdom and poetical books (Job through Song of Solomon) and the prophets (Isaiah through Malachi). Two advantages of this system over using a schedule is that I can vary my pace, and don’t get frustrated if I get behind in a reading schedule.
I also intend to do some more intensive study and meditation in a few New Testament books.
The checklist has two pages; I like to print it on two sides on heavy paper, fold it, and stick it in my Bible. The document is in “Landscape” orientation, but may print in “Portrait” orientation for you. You can change that in the “print setup.” Sorry, I’m not sure how to fix it on my end using Excel 2007.
Feel free to download and print this for yourself and pass it on to others:
The GeoChristian Bible Reading Checklist – PDF file
As important as Bible reading is to me, I realize that it is much more important that the Word be in me than that I be in the Word. One can read the Bible every day and learn lots of facts and end up being a self-righteous hypocrite. So my prayer is that I, and you, would be transformed by prayerful, humble, meditative reading of the Scriptures. May you know Christ and his salvation better through the intake of his Word.
Grace and Peace
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P.S. Here are some good Bible reading schedules if you prefer that over using a checklist:
- The Discipleship Journal Bible reading plan
- Ten reading plans from esv.org
- The Gospel Coalition Two Year Bible Reading Plan
- If you are really hungry for the Word, you can try Glenn Brooke’s Read the Bible in 30 Days.