It’s December 31. In just a few hours, people across the world will gather together, many in front of their TV sets or in huge venues, and ring in the new year: 2011!
Many people make physical resolutions for the new year (lose weight, get in shape, don’t go bald), but I hope you’re strategizing spiritually as well.
1 Timothy 4:8 – Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. [New Living Translation]
With a full 365 days before us, today is your last day before 2011 to decide what your Bible reading plan will be for the year. If you’ve never read the Bible all the way through, I hope 2011 is the year you do it. It can be challenging, but it’s always worth it!
My wife finishes up reading her Bible all the way through today. She’s done it before, but she did it differently this year with the help of a one-year Bible that I bought her last year for Christmas. She said it really helped her stay on track by being able to flip to each day’s date and read for the day.
I’ve done it that way before. I’ve also used bookmarks, read it in different versions, used commentaries along the way, and more. There are many ways to conquer it. This year, I decided to go about it a little differently though – I’m going digital with it. I’m going to be reading my Bible all the way through on my iPhone and/or iPad in 90 days. 2 years ago, I read the Bible through in 90 days with a group of middle school students. It was super challenging (over an hour of reading every day), but awesome. It helped me to grasp an over-all picture of God’s Word and it kept me committed to daily reading. At that pace, if you miss one day, you’ve got at least 2 hours of reading the next day!
I decided to read it digitally this year for a few reasons…
- I’ve never read it all the way through that way
- Since I have my phone with me all the time, I’ll be able to stay on top of my reading
- YouVersion, the Bible app I use, is challenging its readers to collectively spend 1 billion minutes reading the Bible in January alone, and I want to be a part of that
- I have multiple translations at my finger tips, so it will always sound fresh
I’m excited. I love God’s Word. It’s always fun to flip back to Genesis and start again.
If you have a smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc), you can go to YouVersion.com for a mobile version of the Bible. They also have apps available for free so that you can download the Bible in multiple languages and translations and take it with you.
The 90-day plan may not be for you, but that’s ok. There are MANY more ways to read it, even if you don’t read all the way through. You can read some of it or all of it. You can read it topically, chronologically, devotionally, and more. Click HERE to explore over 50 different Bible reading plans.
So what’s your Bible reading plan for 2011?
Leave a comment below and let us know!
I am on day 34 of 90 reading The Message version on my iPhone in YouVersion. Love that I have it with me all the time so I am keeping up. I read through the Bible in a different version each time I do it. I have never done it in 90 days though. Just might do it in 90 again when I finish this though. It is great!
I’m reading the Chronological version because I’ve always wanted to read the Bible through that way. I’ll be reading it on my iPhone. Started Day 1 today. Excited to read about everything in order!
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