What is a yearly Bible reading plan?

Question:

What does having a yearly Bible reading calendar mean? What are the advantages of it and where can I buy one of these calendars?

A yearly Bible reading calendar is dividing up the year into days where you read certain passages from the Bible on certain days and by the end of a calendar year, you read through the entire Bible. Realistically, you will end up reading about 3 to 6 chapters a day.

There are many different kinds of yearly Bible reading calendars:

  • Canonical – This plan goes straight through the Bible—from Genesis to Revelation.
  • Chronological – These readings are compiled according to recent historical research, taking into account the order in which the recorded events actually occurred. For example, if you read about David, then you will also read the psalms that he wrote in their respective order.
  • Historical – In this plan, the order of the Old Testament readings is very similar to Israel’s Hebrew Bible, progressing from Law to Prophets to Writings. The New Testament ordering is based upon research regarding the order in which the books were authored. The New Testament begins with James.
  • The Old and New Testaments together – each day you read a portion from the Old Testament and a portion from the New Testament. You follow the order of the Bible.
  • Blended – The Blended plan divides the Bible so that the reader will read books in a non-traditional sequence. For example, while one is reading the book of Isaiah, he is also reading the book of Mark.

It is a great idea for the entire family to set aside time every single day to read the Bible together according to one of these Bible reading plans. By doing this, the entire family will read through the entire Bible once a year, every single year. Our family reads according to the Chronological plan. It is also a good idea for every pastor/preacher to read through the Bible on a yearly basis according to one of the above mentioned plans.

You can download one of the plans that I linked to earlier and begin to use it today. Print out the plan and place it in your Bible as a reminder. At the end of each Bible reading session, check off the box for that day. If you miss a day, the next day, you need to read for that day and the previous day so that you will not get behind. By doing this, you will read through the Bible on a yearly basis.

Translation by: Erik Brewer