When I discovered your words, I devoured them.
    They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
    O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Jeremiah 15:16 NLT

In case anyone was wondering if I practice what I preach…

Admission

In my last post, I wrote about the rampant plague of biblical illiteracy in North America. I have to admit, however, that there was a time when I was just as bad.

Even as a minister.

My own Bible reading was terribly inconsistent. While I did read the Bible somewhat, it wasn’t near enough, especially for someone charged with educating others with its contents. Sure, I knew quite a bit about some portions of the sacred text, but I was woefully ignorant of much of it. There were whole sections of the Book where the pages were still stuck together for years.

Not cool.

Now

But now things are different. Today I read the Bible diligently.

And I love it!

It cannot find the words to describe how meaningful God’s Word has become through a diligent pursuit of its contents. It took a while to arrive at this point, but I am so glad I persisted and didn’t give up.

Examples

Let me give you a few examples of how I have read the Bible over the last number of years. In no way do I share this to brag or make anyone feel guilty. I share it simple to help you see what is possible with a little effort.

In 2009, I read the entire New Testament once a month in twelve different versions. That works out to ten chapters a day for twenty-six days.

In 2010 I had read the entire Bible through by October. That was accomplished by simply reading five chapters a day.

In 2011, I read the entire Bible through four times in four different versions. That required reading fourteen chapters a day.

I believe it was in 2012 that I followed a plan requiring me to read two chapters in the Old Testament, two in the New, five Psalms, and one chapter of Proverbs every day for a total of ten chapters daily. Reading like this took me through the Old Testament once, the New Testament twice, and the Psalms and Proverbs every thirty days.

There were a few years in between when I followed less aggressive plans, but I always ended up reading the Book all the way through.

In 2018 I read the Bible through twice. Only seven chapters a day will do that.

Right now I am on the most aggressive reading plan I have ever attempted. If I stick with it, it will take me through the Book more times than ever. It’s truly an adventure.

How?

Right about now you may be asking, “How do you do that?” It’s really quite simple:

I make it a priority.

We always have time for what we consider to be important. Reading God’s Book is really important to me because I, for one, am really intent on living in the Reign.

M