Reading the Whole Bible Changed my Life [How I Did it]
Every word of God is important. As followers of Christ, we love Him and His word! Although this is a commonly held belief, how many people have actually read the whole Bible? According to a Lifeway Research article titled “ Lifeway Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It” only 11% of Americans have read the whole Bible.
I am among that small percentage of people. Reading the whole BIble changed my life, and it can change your life as well! You can read the Bible cover to cover in one year (or less). I want to give you a daily Bible reading plan that really helped me to be consistent with my Bible reading. For you to read the whole Bible in one year you have to do it on purpose.
What do I mean by this?
Well we all know that Bible reading is important. I would guess that most people who claim to be a follower of Christ would agree with this, but does simply knowing this truth cause someone to put this into action?
We know we should brush our teeth and floss twice a day, we know we should eat healthy and be active, we know we should get decent sleep at night…but are we actually making sure we do all these things every day? These things need to be done on purpose, which means you have a plan in place that makes them a part of your daily life.
Anyone can do this. If your goal is to be in the small percentage of people who have actually read the whole bible, I am sure this post will help you.
Reading the whole Bible will absolutely change your life. You will understand the Bible so much better, I promise.
I am going to give you some advice and encouragement, and explain how I was able to get it done in one year when I was beginning my Bible reading journey.
Lets jump right into this…
To read the whole bible in one year, you have to make it a priority
Many people say “oh i've read the Bible many times” but what they mean is “i've picked a Bible up and leafed through a few pages many times”
This is expected from an unbeliever. Why would they spend a lot of time reading something they do not believe in? What is heartbreaking, is that many Christian’s have this same problem. Many Christians today have yet to read the Bible cover to cover. They may think they have “read it many times” but in reality they have possibly read a few parts of the bible many times.
Please, seriously, please do not think I am trying to beat anyone up…from the bottom of my heart if this is you, do not get offended, understand that I am trying to encourage and help you achieve something great, which is reading your Bible all the way through. After all, how can we claim to be followers of the Bible when we haven't read every word that it says?
We must learn to prioritize our Bible reading, and to do this we must understand the value that it brings to our lives.
Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Who enjoys NOT eating? Anyone?
Who would skip a meal for a chance to read God’s word? I will be the first to admit that this sounds terrible…why should we have to choose?! Why can’t I read the Bible in the morning AND eat my pop tart? Friend, this is not my point…Please by all means enjoy your poptart while reading the Bible.
We must put the very words of God into a category that even exceeds nourishing our body. Food is important and vital for our bodies, but scripture nourishes our soul.
The purpose of what I am saying is this: If we understand how important Bible reading is then we can learn to prioritize it in our lives. Once we understand the importance of reading the whole Bible, we need a plan. I think an excellent and manageable plan is reading the Bible cover to cover in one year.
One year?! Why one year?
This was my goal when I was first starting out. I recommend this to new Bible readers or Christians who have never attempted to read the whole Bible before. As we will talk about later on, you can certainly read the whole Bible in less than a year, or more if you need a little more time, but I think one year is a perfect goal to complete without burning yourself out and just enough to push yourself.
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Again we see what our emphasis in life should be, the things of God. We need to keep this in mind when we are actively trying to make our Bible reading a priority. It’s important to stay focused when we are reading. Reading the whole Bible in one year will allow you to go slow enough to really soak in what you are reading.
The Bible isn't a terms and conditions document.
Our mindset shouldn't be to check a box saying we did our Bible reading. Our mindset shouldn't be to just skip down to the bottom and check that we’ve read it. We should read through it carefully with an honest and open heart and listen to the words that God has given to us for our betterment.
A lot of people would rather die than spend a day off their cell phone because they might miss a message from a friend. I won’t lie, I grew up with cell Phones.. I’m as hooked to mine as anyone else. As hard as is it for some of us to be away from our phones, we need to understand that the God of the universe has a message He wants you to read from Him in His Word, and some people do not mind skipping out on their Bible reading. Our Bible reading should be a major part of our Christian lives. When I was a brand new Christian, this was not the case for me. I thought I knew a lot about God’s word because I was listening to a lot of preaching online, man oh man did I have a lot of wrong theology…
But that is what happens when you do not read the Bible for yourself. You cannot actually know what the Bible says unless you read the whole thing. You wont read the whole Bible unless you make it a priority.
Allow me to share a personal story…
I was saved at age 21 while I was working at a warehouse in Albany, Oregon. During this time is when I made a friend named Adam. He was one of the only Christians I met in the area, and we became pretty close. What I enjoyed about him is that he really seemed to love Jesus. To me he did not just claim to love Jesus, but he really seemed to live and breathe Jesus.
He really encouraged me to read my Bible. (He also called me out on my cussing, very thankful for this as well). He wasn't a know it all, or arrogant either, he just loved the Lord and wanted others to as well. I remember he encouraged me to read the Bible in the morning before work. I thought he was crazy at first. We worked 5:30 am- 6:00pm.
Eventually I took his advice and started waking up every single morning at 4:00am to read my Bible. I am so happy I did that. If I was going to be tired whatever time I woke up anyway, It was best to at least get up early enough to get my Bible reading done. If you save it for the end of the day you have so many excuses by then to skip out, such as being too tired or having too many other things on your mind by that point. Plus doing it in the morning allows you to mediate on it throughout the day.
This new routine changed my life. This is when I actually set out to not only read everyday, but to actually read the whole Bible. I had no goal on how much to read quite yet…but I did develop a love for God’s word and knew that I had to make it a priority if I was going to read it cover to cover.
I want to encourage you to read your Bible before doing anything else like social media, texting your friend back, ect. Acknowledging to God that His word is more important to me and that my social media notifications can wait has truly brought me closer to Him.
James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you….
God takes notice and blesses us when we make Him and His word a special place in our hearts above all else. Now that we have seen how important it is to make our Bible reading a priority if we want to read the whole Bible cover to cover, lets see just HOW we can accomplish this goal.
2.To read the whole Bible in one year, you need a plan.
I saw a quote recently in a book called “Switch: When change is hard” by Chip and Dan Heath that perfectly summed up what you need to make a plan. They said “some is not a number. Soon is not a time”. Plans are specific, and that’s what you will need to complete this goal.
Like accomplishing anything in life, you must be disciplined. Nobody wakes up one morning and runs a marathon without training. Proper training requires proper planning.
Bible reading is not a sprint, it's a marathon. There is a time and place for sprinting, but reading the whole Bible is not a place for it. Running as fast as you can to the mailbox and back, and then being too exhausted to run any further doesn't do anything for you. Sure you could read for hours a day, but if you don't keep that up and you quit because of burnout, well then that was not worth it was it?
The Bible is meant to be read as a whole, every single thing we read should be looked at in the immediate context, as well as the context of the whole Bible. Oftentimes many parts of the Bible get read, or preached on, while other parts are left out of existence.
I can’t help but think of all the new year's resolutions..people read Genesis and Exodus, but any further beyond that point many people have already given up. What I would submit to you is that you don’t need to kill yourself to read the Bible cover to cover, not only can you do it, but you can do it every year fo the rest of your life. This is totally doable if you decide to make it a priority in your life, and you have a plan.
Remember that you are not alone! God will help you with this goal.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established
God is not uninvested in your plan on reading the whole Bible in one year, He is very invested and He will certainly help you if you commit your plans to Him. Pray about this. Let God know you need His help.
How long is the Bible exactly?
Good question. The Bible is 1,189 chapters. You might say “I can’t do that”..stop. Just stop. With God’s blessing and a good plan, yes you sure can. Remember, some chapters are indeed a little bit lengthy, but also at the same time some are very very short.
There are two ways that you can approach this. Finishing the whole Bible in one year, which technically turns out being a little less than a year, OR finishing in slightly over a year. Again, I think the best option is finishing in one year.
Here is how it breaks down..
To complete the whole Bible in one year, how I did it was reading two chapters in the morning and two chapters at night. This is extremely easy to do when you consider the time we spend doing other things. If you wake up early, or spend a little less time on social media, netflix, ect.. you can easily obtain this. That’s not a passive aggressive comment either, I had to learn just how much time I was spending on other things to come to the reality of the fact that I really do have extra time from my day I can cut out to make more time for Bible reading.
As I stated above, you have another option as well. You can read 3 chapters a day and that will allow you to finish the whole Bible in just over a year, at 397 days.
I enjoy reading in the morning and evening because there is a closeness you feel when you set aside a specific time to spend with the Lord. Morning is my favorite time to read. I get up before anyone else and pray and read the Bible. I am more alert at this time than I am in the evening.
My wife is the opposite, she cannot focus as well in the morning so she prefers reading in the evening. You could even read all 4 chapters in one sitting if you would like. This plan can be adjusted to any way that works for you and your life. The important part is that you have a plan, you have a specific time that you purposefully open God’s word and read, and you complete the 4 chapters to make sure you read the whole Bible in the one year timeframe.
Before we end this I do want to give you one more point that I feel is too important to leave out…
3.To read the whole Bible in one year, be flexible.
I have mentioned that I think reading morning and evening, and having a specific time and place to read is a very important element in your goal. But at the same time, you need to be willing to be flexible.
This may mean that some days when life is getting crazy, which it is bound to, you allow for some wiggle room on how you accomplish getting your reading done. You may need to read on your phone while waiting in the doctor's office, waiting to pick up dinner, or waiting for a meeting to start at work. These are not ideal places to read, in my opinion, because they are full of distractions, but it’s better than not reading.
Another tool you could utilize when you need to is an audio Bible. I personally do not do as well listening to the Bible, because I tend to zone out and not pay attention. My brain just works differently. You, however, may do just fine. The important thing is getting the reading done. I still utilize this option when I need to, usually in the morning if I am running late, or on the way home from work if it is super late at night. Although listening to the Bible is not my first choice, to me it is far better than skipping your reading for the day.
It’s that easy! You can totally do this. Reading through the whole Bible in one year is one of the best things you can do for your walk with God. It will change your life. Doing this really helped me in so many aspects of my life. I now see the Bible as one big story, and see how it all connects together.
Remember, it takes making the Bible a priority in your life, it takes having a solid plan, and being flexible. Now that you see how I read the whole Bible in one year and how I did it….what is stopping you from beginning your Bible reading journey today?
