Choosing a Bible reading plan

The start of any great journey begins with a plan and reading the Bible is no different. A Bible reading plan is one tool that can help you steadily progress through some or all of the Bible, one day at a time. But with multitudes to choose from, which plan is best? This will depend on your goal. Do you want to walk the entire trail, just a section of it or fly over the top to get the lay of the land? Wherever you are at on your journey, here are some thoughts on choosing the right plan for you.

For those who are just starting out, there are different views about where to start reading. Many recommend getting straight into the life of Jesus with one of the Gospel’s (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John). While this can be a good starting point, there’s good reason to also get into the Old Testament early on. The first verse of the New Testament says, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Who is David and who is Abraham? To get the full impact of the significance of this statement, we need to go back and read the Old Testament.

However, the Old Testament is quite long. Taking a fly over the top can be helpful for seeing the bigger picture before getting bogged down in detailed tabernacle instructions. This is where an introductory plan comes in - but you want to choose your vehicle carefully. At one extreme, some introductory plans dip in and out of a few select chapters over the course of just one week. This is a bit like zooming in a jet plane so fast you've no time to actually see much of the scenery for yourself, so you'll be relying on the commentary of the pilot. The chapters and message chosen for a super short introductory plan like this will be quite different depending on who has put it together. At the other extreme, some introductory plans take a whole year. Ideally the more of the Bible that a plan lets you read for yourself in context, the better. A longer overview over at least 3-4 months should cover most of the main events.

One thing that we discovered in the process of making an introductory plan is how difficult it is to choose which chapters to leave out. The real story is not simply that Israel came into the promised land – but how they got there. It is the growth of each person that God is interested in, and it is the human ups and downs that are the most interesting parts - both our boys were aghast that we could possibly have skipped over the story of the golden calf. It is also surprising how many of these background stories are alluded to throughout the Bible once you get to know them.

Every story (and every word) has been included for a reason. And so, the best Bible reading plan really is one that covers the whole Bible. Many people reread the whole Bible every year. It is a unique book in that the more you read it, the more interesting it becomes. A favourite whole Bible reading plan used in our community was made by Robert Roberts when he was only 13. It’s a good solid plan, covering the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in a year but there are many others out there.

Of course, there is still a place for shorter Bible reading plans that focus on specific sections, or progress through the Bible in a different way – changing things up can be one way to keep up the motivation levels and make new discoveries. The key is to know how shorter sections fit into the wider Bible context.

If you’d like to try our revised introductory plan (which includes the golden calf story!) or the Robert Roberts whole Bible plan you can download these on our Bible study kit page.

If you'd like more simple strategies to get more out of your reading check out our Better Bible reading series for seven short emails delivering tips and inspiration.

Tell us, what are your favourite ways to read the Bible? Do you use a plan? If so, which one?