It's the London Marathon of Christian discipleship. The Herculean task which separates the pros from the amateurs; the mission so many of us choose to accept every year, and yet which so few complete. Reading the whole of the Bible, in a single year. It's a lot tougher than it sounds. Or at least, that's what the evidence of so many failed attempts suggests.
I've made it to the end twice, but that statistic sounds a lot less impressive as a percentage of the times I've started. In the majority of cases, the pitfalls of indiscipline, guilt and fatigue have killed it for me, while on at least three separate occasions I've been defeated by the Book of Job. Reading through the Bible involves motivation, perseverance and self-discipline, and means staying committed to a single task over the space of a whole year. There's an awful lot of counter-cultural behaviour involved (reading from a book every day, for starters).
Like most things that require serious effort however, the completion of the task can be incredibly rewarding, as can the process itself. On the two occasions I made it through, I read amazing passages I'd never noticed before; found myself regularly 'hearing' from God through readings which were spookily appropriate to my situation at the time of reading them, and gained a much better understanding of how the whole library of Scripture fits together.
So since I firmly believe it's worth doing AND at the same time know first-hand how those good New Years' intentions can melt away in the face of a particularly long genealogy, here are a few tips on how to see the task through.
1. Do it for the right reasons. There are lots of bad reasons for trying to read through the Bible in a year. These include trying to look holy and impressive, and feeling guilty that you've never done it (if that's you right now, please be absolved). The best reason for reading the Bible is that it's one of the most straightforward ways we can draw closer to God and seek to understand him better. We're all part of the huge, grand story that the Bible is telling, and so reading through it all gives us a better grasp of the whole narrative, instead of just knowing it in parts.
2. Choose a good app. Since most of us now run our lives via our mobile devices, it makes perfect sense to read the Bible on them. There are some brilliant Bible reading apps out there which include various reading plans, the most ubiquitous being Life church's Youversion, which at last count was installed on over 250,000,000 devices worldwide. London's HTB church offer a brilliant, purpose built BIOY app, which includes daily commentary from Alpha pioneer's Nicky and Pippa Gumbel. I've personally found it hugely helpful, intuitive and user-friendly.
3. Establish a routine. It's not essential, and for some of us it'll be simply impractical, but finding a place and time where we read can really improve our chances of forming a long-term habit. Try to know yourself too - are you going to regularly fail to finish the reading if you choose to do it in bed last thing at night?
4. Pray about it. Since this is a challenge which requires perseverance and self-discipline, we should probably ask God for some perseverance and self-discipline. Including this in the list of things we pray about daily will not only continue to focus us on the task, it also opens us up to some serious supernatural support.
5. Find a buddy. This was the fruitless task of my early teenage years, but that's not important right now. In this context, I'm talking about identifying someone who'll join you in your quest, or if not, will at least hold you to account regularly on your own progress. You are statistically much more likely to complete any challenge if you're doing so with company and accountability, so why make it difficult for yourself? Choose a reliable friend from whom you're prepared to receive a challenge, and give them permission to 'encourage' you when you're falling behind.
6. Pick a 5 or 6-day-a-week plan. One of the biggest reasons why reading the Bible in a year feels hard is the relentlessness of the task. Psychologically, the looming shadow of having to read every single day can quickly shift from being exciting to onerous. So although it means reading a few more verses each day, you could choose a Bible reading plan which only asks you to read six days a week, such as Ownit365's Whole Bible plan, or even use this downloadable schedule for a five-day-a-week plan, provided by Westside Church of Christ in Irving, Texas. This way, you can either build in rest days to break up the challenge, or give yourself a day or two each week to catch up on any missed readings instead of letting the backlog accumulate.
7. Get ahead. It's funny how we never think to do this, as if the invisible rulebook for this thing stipulates that you can only catch up missed days, not save up a few extras in reserve. But try to remember that on days when you have time, and when you're really gripped by the story, you're allowed to read ahead!
It's easy to focus on how difficult the challenge of reading the Bible in a year can be, because so many of us have seen our good New Year's intentions falter by February in the past. It's important to remember though that it's a perfectly accomplishable task, and a hugely rewarding one. The whole of Scripture contains just over 3/4 million words, and since the average adults reads at around 250 words per minute, you should be able to get through the whole thing by reading for just ten minutes a day. If we don't have enough time for that much Scripture in our lives, then it's probably time to stop doing something else.
Most New Years' resolutions are either a bit pointless, or doomed to failure. Reading through the Bible in a year certainly isn't the former, and with a bit of planning and self-discipline, doesn't need to be the latter either. In 2017, I'm going to take my own advice and begin reading again. Why don't you join me?
Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martinsaunders.
