Many Christians begin each new year motivated to read their Bible more. Some succeed, but many don’t. There is no “right” way to plan out your Bible reading for the upcoming year. The key to success is to know what you are attempting to do and why. One of our ultimate goals in reading Scripture should be to delight in knowing our God and His Word. But learning to delight in God’s Word starts by actually reading God’s Word. Below are a few different ways that you might plan to read God’s Word in 2023.
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Reading through the Bible in a year is a wonderful goal to shoot for, especially if you have never made your way through all sixty-six books. But believe it or not, there are lots of different plans that can help you accomplish your goal of making it all the way through the Bible in a year. Here are 3 different ones that might interest you:
This plan is called the “Psalms-Ezekiel plan” because it alternates between two different tracks that will have you complete the entire Bible once in a year.
If you would like to try and read through the Bible chronologically in 2023, here is the plan for you. Like the plan above, this one will have you read through the OT and NT once. But this plan will help you read the Bible chronologically.
For the more ambitious readers, the M’Cheyne plan helps readers tackle the NT and Psalms twice and the OT once in a year. This plan calls for approximately four chapters a day.
NEW TESTAMENT PLAN
Maybe you are a new Christian or new to the discipline of reading the Bible. If so, reading through the New Testament in 2023 would be a great goal.
The 5 x 5 x 5 plan is perfect for Christians who are new to reading the Bible daily. Reading five minutes a day, five days a week, readers will make it through the New Testament completely in a year.
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN TWO YEARS
I love the idea behind this plan. If you are afraid that trying to make it through the entire Bible is too much, slow down and shoot for two years. Plus, this plan will have you read through the Psalms and Proverbs a total of four times over the course of two years.
VARIOUS BOOKS
There is another way you can tackle your Bible reading this year. Choose a different book each month and just take your time with it. Study, meditate, even memorize portions of it. You can even alternate between the Old Testament and New. The beautiful part of this plan is that you can choose lesser-known books and learn them intimately over the course of a month. Read a chapter or two or three each day depending on the size of the book. By the end of 2023, you will have a better understanding of twelve different books.
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There’s no right or wrong plan for reading God’s Word in 2023. Whether we make it through the entire Bible in a year, the New Testament, or twelve different books, our goal should be consistency, growth, delight, and a deeper love for God.
Happy reading!
