(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.)
As we get closer to the 3rd month of the year, many people are starting to feel the strain of the new things they planned to do in 2020. The diet is slipping, the gym just isn’t working out, and this year is looking pretty similar to the last one. For many, that also means that the plan to read through the Bible in a single year is getting further away as those missed days start piling up. If you’re disappointed, frustrated, or feeling hopeless, then I hope I can bring you some encouragement today.
Remember why you set the goal
As December draws to a close, no doubt many people are Googling “Bible reading plans.” Many being the new year excited and optimistic, hoping that following a set path will bring some discipline to their routine. And when we fail to stick to that schedule, we’re tempted to just stop trying altogether.
However, it’s important to remember why we start these plans in the first place. While there’s certainly the enjoyment of checking off boxes and accomplishing something as big as reading the entire Bible, our desire to even find such a plan goes much deeper.
Those who follow Christ want to know their God more intimately. They want to see what He has to say about the world, life, and our purpose in all of it. Although God reveals Himself in many ways, our primary means of getting to know our almighty creator is through the Bible.
Thus, we begin our Bible reading plans with one goal in mind: reading more of the Bible so we can learn more about God. We don’t want to rely on our pastor or a devotion book to tell us about Him – we want to experience Him for ourselves, taking in the truths He’s given us in this wonderful book. We want to grow deeper in our walk with Christ, and we know the best way to do that is in those pages (or in the app, because it is 2020 after all!).
So as you look at the end 10 months and feel like you’ve already failed, just remember one thing: your plan may have failed, but your desire is still worth pursuing. Remember that you chose a Bible reading plan specifically to read more of the Bible. Perhaps it was too much, or perhaps that particular plan didn’t work out. Whatever the reason, let’s figure out how to get back on track so we can focus more on our God and less on an accomplishment.
Idea #1 – Choose a less intense plan
In order to make time for reading the Bible every day, we must take time away from something else. That may mean less sleep, less time on social media, or even less time spent on hobbies. And as many people soon discover, changing a schedule like that is much easier said than done.
As I discussed in my article about why many people shouldn’t read their Bible in a year, it can be very difficult to go from 0 minutes of Bible reading every day and immediately jumping to 40 or 60 minutes. It’s exciting at first, but many just aren’t prepared for such a radical shift. And really, that’s okay. The Christian life isn’t a sprint toward perfection. It’s about the Holy Spirit slowly changing us as we walk in obedience and surrender.
So if your original Bible reading plan was just too much right now, switch gears and try something else. There are many ways to slowly ease into reading the Bible regularly, including:
- Reading the New Testament (instead of the whole Bible) in a year
- Reading for 10 minutes each day for a month, then increasing it by 5 minutes every month.
- Choosing a book of the Bible each week and reading through it whenever you have free time (instead of finding distraction on our phones, computers, or the TV)
- Meeting with someone once a week and discussing a book of the Bible you’ve agreed to read together
- Using an audio Bible app while we drive, go for walks, etc.
Whatever method we choose, the important thing is to read our Bibles more often while making sure we’re reading them well. Don’t just throw open the Bible and see what happens – have a plan in mind, make sure it’s achievable, and stick with it until you feel the need to change it up.
Idea #2 Ditch the calendar
If we’re honest, we sometimes love the gimmick of a Bible reading plan. We check off boxes, make steady progress, and eagerly look forward to December 31st when we can sit back and feel a sense of accomplishment. Yet when life happens and we can’t stick to that plan, we lose steam because we don’t get that rush of checking off boxes. When we do that, we realize that we’ve made our own sense of accomplishment more important than the purpose behind it.
We must remember that there’s no inherent value to reading the Bible in a year. Often, we read through it so quickly that it has little opportunity to stick in our minds and affect our hearts. It works for some, but not for others.
So if your desire is to read through the entire Bible, then do it. It’s okay not to do it in one year, or even in two years. There’s absolutely no deadline that says “Once you start reading, you must finish in this many days or else it’s a waste of time.”
Remember, we’re reading God’s word. We are being exposed to the very character of our Heavenly Father, seeing Jesus Christ more clearly in our lives, and giving the Holy Spirit so much truth to work with as He makes us more like our savior.
We all have an ideal way we’d like to read the Bible. However, sometimes we need to be willing to compromise that perfect plan in order to have something more realistic, and therefore more useful in our lives.
If the pressure of sticking with a certain plan is stopping you from reading everything God has given us, then stop looking at the dates. The greatest use of a Bible reading plan is simply to give us a roadmap to follow. Want to start at Genesis and go through Revelation? Go for it. Want to mix in a Psalm and Proverb every day? Do it. Whatever way you choose to read God’s word regularly, don’t get stressed if you get days or weeks behind. Just keep reading and find satisfaction in drawing closer to God.
Idea #3 Get back on that horse
Self-discipline is tough. Getting caught up on something we’re behind on is even worse. Yet for some people, that one year Bible plan is where it’s at. Maybe they just got behind because work got crazy or their house got hit by one of the many illnesses going around right now. Despite all that, they really want to follow through with their commitment to read the entire Bible in 2020.
If that’s you, then consider this your official kick in the pants to get back on track.
- Carve out a weekend and just read, read, and read some more until you’re back on track. If you’re still behind, keep up with the weekly reading schedule and then carve out another weekend to make up the difference.
- Grab an audio Bible app to help you catch up. Even if you’re more of a reader than a listener, you can get back to reading in a week or two when you’re caught up.
- Double-up on reading every day until you’re caught up. Whether that means doing one day of reading in the morning and one at night, or just spending an entire lunch break getting through both, each day will bring you closer to being back on track.
- Use an easier-to-read translation like the NLT (though preferably not The Message) to help things come more alive as you get the basic idea of what’s happening in what you’re reading. Just don’t use this translation to pull bigger truths and teachings out of the Bible since they are more of a paraphrase than an actual translation of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
If that January 1st commitment to read the entire Bible in a year is important to you, then do whatever is reasonable to keep it. You still have 10 months left – spend some time catching up, find some strategies to help you catch up again if you get behind, and keep on going until you read those final words on December 31st, 2020.
Whatever you do, read
We can all admit that reading our Bibles can be a challenge. Yet the more we do it, the more we’ll be able to do it. Just remember that we’ll never look back and feel like we’ve wasted our time in God’s word. Some days may be more impacting than others, but our hearts will be drawn closer to God as we spend more time encountering Him.
So whatever your reading plans were for 2020, the important thing is to remember why we care in the first place. Achievement is nice, but our genuine desire is simply to take our greatest source of truth and read it for ourselves. So don’t let the last 2 months get you down – get back in there and enjoy learning more about your amazing God, the wonderful savior He sent, and the comforting Holy Spirit who makes us more like Christ every day.
