I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:1-2

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Ten chapters per day revisited

Last February I wrote about the new Bible reading plan I had started in January 2011. Today I want to update how that went and tell about my Bible reading plan for 2012.

As of today, I am on day 106 of my original 10-chapter-a-day plan linked above.  If you click the link, you'll see that on Feb. 25, 2011 I was on day 40.  Hmmmm...that's not much progress.  As a geeky math teacher I couldn't help crunching the numbers.  The first 56 days of 2011 I read 71% of the reading I was "supposed" to, then the next 309 days of 2011 I read less than 21% of what I was "supposed" to read.  Do I feel condemned?  Discouraged?  NO!  Fortunately God doesn't accept us based on our performance (whew!)  BUT to a large extent my spiritual growth is tied to my ingestion of the Word, so reading, studying, and thinking about the Bible is VITAL!

Why the low rate?  Well, I wrote about it a bit here and here.  Basically, life got busy and sometimes I didn't follow through (in other words, sometimes I slept in and didn't read my Bible at all).  On many days I would only get half the reading done, so one day's worth of reading would take two (or more) days.  Also I spent some time going in-depth in a topic or two rather than reading the 10-chapters-per-day.  In-depth study is just as important as an overview.  We need a balance of in-depth study and reading the whole counsel of God.

My plan for this year is to just continue.  I consider this method a rousing success even though I have been slow getting through it.  It has helped me make connections like no other Bible reading plan has.  Although I have only done 105 days of this plan, I have completely read through each of the four New Testament sections and two of the six Old Testament sections.  In fact, I am on my third reading of the shortest New Testament section. (If none of this makes sense you can click on the first link above for a more in-depth explanation of the plan.)

Many parts of the Bible have linked together for me more than ever before.  Pieces of the puzzle are coming together.  I am starting to see the Bible more as a cohesive whole with a single author and a single message, rather than a bunch of good but somewhat unrelated ideas.  And I have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I love making it through all ten chapters in a morning! (But I also love delving deeply into a topic.)  I like having a plan, but I am willing to deviate from it as led. 

I am looking forward to being more consistent and growing even more in 2012.



3 comments:

Stori said...

Oh, I love the idea of keeping track of your bible reading this way :). I too am a math geek, and I need to look into this.

Keep blogging about Rosa's adoption! I can't wait to see pictures and hear her name.

Alice said...

I love your honesty. So many people start out the year all gung-ho and often pushy about their perfect Bible reading plan. Very few ever complete it. Keep pressing on. I am attempting a much simpler plan. Praying we are both more consistent this year.

Sarah said...

I am with you...life gets in my way...and I am always refreshed when i get back into the Word, not out of obligation but for the sheer excitement of what He might show me that I never saw before...like mining for diamonds...I too, got off track last year, but feel great freedom in "plodding on" :D