I don't like Bible reading plans
Reading the Bible in the New Year
Confession: I don’t use Bible reading plans.
I know many people find them to be useful, and if you benefit from them, more power to you! If that’s your thing, here is a pretty stellar plan (or you can generate your own).
The strengths of a Bible reading plan are that they help you be consistent and provide structure to your reading; you aren’t left approaching your Bible each morning wondering what you will be reading. You also will be forced to read through sections of the Bible you may normally neglect.
I don’t know if it is because of my Myers-Briggs letters, the nature of my work as a pastor, or just a weakness of my own, but—while I am very grateful they help so many—I rarely benefit from these plans. I have found that their format doesn’t really suit me well, nor do they help alleviate the main problem I have with consistent, meaningful time reading God’s Word.
Why I Don’t Love Bible Reading Plans
The Format
My biggest beef with Bible reading plans is that they require me to read at a set pace. They may be a very high-volume (read the Bible in 90 days) or very mellow (read the Bible in two years). But invariably, I find myself getting out of sync with the schedule by reading ahead or falling behind. Thus, as I open up my Bible I find an unwelcome guest crowding out the tiny carriage of concentration meant only for me and the Lord. I don’t want to be thinking about catching up or rushing ahead of the schedule. If I want to stop and smell the roses, I don’t want an artificial hand pushing me along. I want the freedom to think about God, how He has revealed Himself in the text, about my sin and how Christ has come to renew me with His grace. I don’t want any of that to be squeezed through the sieve of “gotta hurry!”
There are times where I read vast swaths of Scripture in one go. There are other times where I stop and roll one verse around and around in my mind for several minutes. I may stop entirely, open my journal: write the verse out, jot down insights, maybe a prayer.
I want the option to do either as the Lord meets with me. My aim is to read prayerfully and contemplatively, always seeking to press into the reality that stands behind the text itself: God.
And I have just found being untethered from a plan gives me the freedom to pursue this. Robert McCheyne, the Scottish pastor who first popularized a Bible reading plan back in 1842, counseled his church to set aside the reading plan if they found it to inhibit their devotions:
throw aside the fetter and feed at liberty in the sweet garden of God. My desire is not to cast a snare upon you, but to be a helper of your joy.
Doesn’t Help My Problem
I read my Bible at the start of my day, almost every morning. There are times when I don’t, but when I do it feels like I forgot to brush my teeth; it isn’t something I want to do twice in a row.
My main dilemma, however, is meaningful reading. I want consistency and meaningful reading to be my goal. If left on soulless auto-pilot, my body would lurch out of bed, fumble around for coffee, and then plop down at my kitchen barstool with my Bible. It is just a habit. And I am incredibly grateful for wearing that groove into my life. Without that consistency, I would never have meaningful reading.
But blinking at a page of text for thirty minutes won’t do much for me. I need more. I need to interact with the words; I need to wrestle with and pass through the words; I need to eat the very words of God. If the life-giving Scripture washes over me like water over a stone, leaving me inert, unaffected, there is something wrong.
Isaiah tells me that God’s eyes are towards those who “tremble at His word” (Isa 66:2); I am embarrassed to admit that many mornings, I only yawn. Like the disciples nodding off in Gethsemane, my spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
And a Bible reading plan won’t help with that. In my experience, it seems to aggravate the problem. I become more focused on the plan itself, my progress; thinking about thinking is always distracting. Like a man who pays more attention to the window being free of smudges than the purple mountains the windows were intended to reveal.
But hey! This is just me. I’ve probably just told you more about my own problems and idiosyncrasies than yourself. If you find an annual plan doesn’t create these problems, but helps, then go nuts! Let a thousand lilies bloom and what not.
Stare Until You See
To alleviate my problem, I need to confront the internal sluggishness that limps towards the Word. And I can only do that through the help of the Spirit and prayer.
A simple act I undertake to confront this is to pray, very briefly, before I read: Lord, help me see. Lord, I am tired, awake my soul. Help me think and feel as I ought.
A man may be scanning a masterpiece, but be unaware of the value of what he is beholding. A student may receive a full-ride scholarship, but will be unaffected if they don’t open the mail. So too, Christians may yawn at God’s Word if they do not lean into the Spirit to request help to see the glory of what lies before them.
The beginning of every Bible published by Gideons International has this short excerpt printed:
The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.
It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter.
Here too, Heaven is opened and the gates of Hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.
Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.
It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever.
It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
May God bless our reading—whatever plan we use—so that as we stare at His Word, we may see Him with this same reverence.