Breakthroughs and Blessings

Have you ever struggled with something for years and then finally had a breakthrough?

That has been my situation with reading my Bible. I have had long periods of time in which I was very consistent, and have read through the Bible in a year perhaps a half-dozen times in my life. Although I have been involved in Bible studies, it was a real struggle to find daily consistent time while I was working full-time.

This was frustrating to me for similar reasons. First I was not feeling the sense of strength and enrichment that I had when I was able to be more persistent. Second, I would hear a message on a particular passage and feel regret if that was a portion I had not visited in a long long time. I thought I was missing something very important, since the structured Bible studies would focus on a particular theme or section. I was missing the overall thread that is prevalent throughout all of the books of the Bible, and felt I was only eating appetizers, and never getting the full meal and variety of nutrients.

In January of 2019, I left the world of full-time work, and found that my schedule now allowed for many things I had neglected over the past several years. The first thing I determined to do was spend daily time in the scriptures, and I determined to read through the Bible in a year, along with the work for the Women’s Bible Study.

In the past, I had used some standard reading plans, such as alternating between Old and New Testament passages, with Psalms and Proverbs included each day. I decided I wanted the continuity of reading an entire book through before mixing it up with other things, and I wanted to split up the really long books with shorter ones.

I didn’t get a good rhythm until a few months into the year, so I realized I was behind schedule. After figuring the number of books and number of months left, I organized the daily readings to accommodate and then worked the plan. Finishing a few days before New Year’s, I felt invigorated! I had seen some beautiful themes as I read through which I had not noticed before. Since I was reading whole books and mixing up the order, I was amazed to see how often the same phrases and topics were repeated.

Some of these themes included
*How much God loves His people and continues to reach out to them (and us)
*Admonitions to carefully follow God’s ways and not get caught up in the world system
*God’s total provision for man’s salvation and redemption, from before Creation and reiterated through nearly every book

I had so much fun with this and felt so blessed! It made me wonder why I hadn’t purposed more diligently to set aside time to be in Scriptures. (That may have kept my working life in better balance so I wasn’t as crazy busy as I had been!)

For 2020, I decided I would read the whole Bible again with a more systematized approach. I also wanted to use a different version (I used NIV in 2019 and have most frequently used NASB in the past), so I picked The Message by Eugene Peterson. I made a chart with all the books and the number of chapters in each, so I could have a fairly balanced number of chapters to complete each month. Again, I mixed it all up to provide variety. Below is my reading plan for 2020.

January: Genesis, Joshua, Psalms 1-12, Romans, Galatians. Total 108 chapters

February: Judges, Ezra, Psalms 13-24, Ruth, Jonah, Matthew, James, Titus, Philemon. Total 88 chapters (since February is shorter)

March: Exodus, 1 Samuel, Psalms 25-36, I Corinthians, Ephesians. Total 105 chapters

April: 2 Samuel, Esther, Psalms 37-48, Nehemiah, Micah, Mark, 1 John, 1 Peter, Jude. Total 97 chapters

May: Leviticus, 1 Kings, Psalms 49-60, Joel, Zephaniah, Ecclesiastes, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, 2 John. Total 99 chapters

June: 2 Kings, Psalms 61-72, Song of Solomon, Nahum, Hosea, Luke, 2 Peter, 3 John. Total 89 chapters

July: Numbers, 1 Chronicles, Psalms 73-84, Lamentations, Colossians, Hebrews, Ecclesiastes. Total 111 chapters

August: 2 Chronicles, Psalms 86-96, Daniel, Habakkuk, Amos, John. Total 97 chapters

September: Deuteronomy, Job, Psalms 97-108, I Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians. Total 96 chapters

October: Psalms 109-120, Isaiah, Acts. Total 106 chapters

November: Psalms 121-132, Jeremiah, Haggai, Malachi, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Revelation. Total 102 chapters

December: Psalms 133-150, Proverbs, Zechariah, 2 Timothy. Total 106 chapters

So far, it has been working well. I ended up reading more than my scheduled five chapters when I had time, thus finishing for the month a little early. That gave me more concentrated time to spend on the Women’s Bible Study materials for the last week of February. I love having this a my new routine and I feel so much more aware of Scriptural themes as they apply to my daily life.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24:27

All Scripture is God–breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work
2 Timothy 3:16

How about you? Do you have a Bible reading schedule? What keeps you on track and motivated? Please share in the comments below.