We all know that quiet time is important and most of us want to start doing their devotions but are clueless how to choose a Bible Reading Plan. In this post, we'll discuss how to choose what to read in the Bible daily.
Choosing a Bible Reading Plan
Why Do I Need to Choose a Bible Reading Plan?
Some people prefer using a devotional guide (or those daily devotionals from various apps and websites). You can use such maybe if you are looking to get inspiration on a particular topic, or in addition to your personal Bible study. However, we highly recommend against using a ready-made devotional as your only source of meditation on God's Word.
Why? Simple. The reflection and learning from the writers who wrote these devotionals show how God spoke to them PERSONALLY based on the passage. And while these can still speak to you, why go through second-hand sources when you can hear from the Lord first hand?
What Does a Bible Reading Plan Do?
While you can be led by God to a certain passage, there is a danger for some to pick a reading via a roulette approach -- picking the passage where their finger lands, or the page where the wind stops blowing their Bible open. I'm not judging people who read the Bible as the Spirit leads -- my husband actually does that! But if you're a beginner, then you may want to choose a Bible Reading Plan.
The recommended way is to pick a Bible reading plan so that you have an organised way of reading through the Bible. A Bible reading plan gives passages so that you know what to read from the Bible daily.
Choosing a Bible Reading Plan
There are various reading plans available online and even through the Bible app. There are some that give a chronological view of the Scriptures, there are some that focus on the sequence as written in our current version of the Bible. It really depends on your intent -- but the main goal should be clear: that you get to have a systematic way to choose what to read in the Bible daily.
If you're not sure with what Bible Reading Plan to choose, we recommend this plan that we follow from The Rock Anaheim which is the Solid Life Reading Plan.
There are three options in one annual plan:
Plan 1 - New Testament Only (one chapter a day) - You'll get to read the entire NT once and some key books twice. This is good for beginners.
Plan 2 (What we use) - Solid Life Plan (three chapters a day) - You'll get to read the whole Bible -- both NT and OT. We recommend this so that you can appreciate more God's plan of salvation through Jesus.
Plan 3 - One-Two Plan (four chapters a day) - You'll get to read the entire OT once and the entire NT twice.
What's cool is that they've also organized the Bible Reading Plan in a way that related passages are combined per day - for example, there are stories in Chronicles that have a corresponding story as well in Kings. Instead of reading them twice - those get grouped into a day. Some themes in the OT that recur in the NT are also grouped together for a more organized read.
Anyway, if you have other reading plans you prefer to use, that should be fine as long as it suits your intent. And what's really more important is that you actually meditate on the Word for your personal consumption. If you don't know how to do that, then we made a very easy guide on how to do daily devotion.
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