Bible reading plans help me stay on track

I did it! I finished reading through the Bible in a year. I’ve read through the Bible several times, but I’ve never made it in a calendar year period.

I think five things helped me:

1. My church started 2010 with a 90-day challenge to read through the New Testament by the end of March. Knowing others were doing the same plan helped me.
2. I got a copy of the English Standard Version Study Bible. This was a new version to me. I found the newness refreshing as I read familiar passages.
3. I also took time to read the introductory study notes before starting each new book. I found these notes very insightful and helped me stay engaged. As I read through the book, I looked for confirmation of the things I read in the introductory materials. It was kind of like a treasure hunt. And it was very engaging. I felt like I had completed a Survey of the New Testament when I completed the 90-day challenge.
4. I chose the YouVersion.com reading plan called Chronological to read through the Old Testament in the remaining months of 2010. Reading chronologically gave new insights and connected historical passages with Psalms and other wisdom literature and with the Prophets written in the same time frame. YouVersion gave a calendar overview so I could see where I was in the reading plan. Seeing the green boxes appear each day I completed my reading was motivating to continue. It may seem a little thing, but having a visual picture of where I was in the plan was very motivating. The YouVersion app on my Android phone kept track so that when I finished reading a chapter, it checked it off. Very nice!
5. I installed YouVersion.com’s Bible App on my mobile phone. Having the Bible with me all day, using a Reading Plan, having the App track my progress in short intervals as I had time to read another chapter all contributed to success in 2010.

I’m going to do a 30-day Gospels reading plan in January to start the year off with Jesus’ life and ministry. I’m also going to do a couple of shorter reading plans on Courage (1 week) and Prayer (3 weeks).

And I’m joining 1 billion in 1 month! Join in reading the Bible for 1 billion minutes in the month of January. YouVersion recently passed the 4 billion minutes of Bible reading. Imagine if around the world, the Bible is read for 1 billion minutes in January! Join me, not for YouVersion’s sake, but for our own! If you have an iPhone or Android or BlackBerry or Windows mobile phone, install their Bible App and read wherever you have 15 minutes.

Let’s do it! Let’s read 1 billion minutes in January!