Tag Bible

Bible in a Year: Week of January 1-7

Todd R 1 Comment

Fellow travelers:

Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along my Bible in a year schedule.  Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible.  I study the morning chapters and only read (or sometimes use an audio Bible for) the evening ones, but you can follow along any way you want.

2024 starts with Psalms and 1 Samuel in the morning, since so many Psalms are based on David’s life, which is covered in 1 and 2 Samuel.  The evenings will start with the Pentateuch.

Monday, January 1
Morning: Psalm1, 1 Samuel 1
Evening: Genesis 1

Tuesday, January 2
Morning: Psalm 2, 1 Samuel 2
Evening: Genesis 2

Wednesday, January 3
Morning: Psalm 3, 1 Samuel 3
Evening: Genesis 3

Thursday, January 4
Morning: Psalm 4, 1 Samuel 4
Evening: Genesis 4

Friday, January 5
Morning: Psalm 5, 1 Samuel 5
Evening: Genesis 5

Saturday, January 6
Morning: Psalm 6, 1 Samuel 6-7
Evening: Genesis 6

Sunday, January 7
Morning: Psalm 7, 1 Samuel 8-9
Evening: Genesis 7

Coming Soon: Bible in a Year

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Fellow travelers,

Have you ever read the Bible in a year?  If you haven’t, have you ever wanted to?  If you cover 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends, it almost exactly comes to the 1,189 total chapters over a full year.  2024 is a leap year, so there’s an extra day.

Beginning on Sunday, I’ll be posting here every week a guide for the following Monday – Sunday.  My personal approach is to study 2-3 chapters per day in the morning along with a study bible or commentary, and just read or listen to audio for the remaining chapter at night.  I start every year with one Psalm a day, plus something else in the morning, and a different book in the evening.  I find the variety helpful.  It doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the plan.

Weekly I will post Morning and Evening chapters, but readers could follow along any way they want.  They could just read the one chapter per day (the “Evening” reading), or just the 2-3 chapters (the “Morning” reading).  They could use an audio Bible for all or part of it.  They could swap the Morning and Evening chapters if that’s a better schedule.  Everyone knows best what works for them and what they’re likely to stick with, even if it’s not the whole Bible in a year.

This year will start with Psalms and 1 Samuel in the morning, since so many Psalms are based on David’s life, which is covered in 1 and 2 Samuel.  The evenings will start with the Pentateuch.

Looking forward to 2024!

Bible in a Year?

Todd R 1 Comment

Fellow travelers,

It’s very early to write about 2024 plans, but have you ever read the Bible in a year?  If you haven’t, have you ever wanted to?  I’ve read, or at least listened to, all of the Bible in some years and find it a valuable practice.  In addition to doing it myself in 2024, I’m considering blogging each Sunday what I plan to cover the following week in case anyone wants to follow along.

If you cover 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends, it almost exactly comes to the 1,189 total chapters over a full year.  2024 is a leap year, so there’s an extra day.  My personal approach is to study 2-3 per day with a study bible or commentary, and just read or listen to audio for the remaining chapter.  It doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the plan.

Readers could follow along any way they want.  They could just read the one chapter per day (the “PM” reading), or just the 2-3 chapters (the “AM” reading).  They could use an audio Bible for all or part of it.  They could swap the AM and PM times if that’s a better schedule.  Everyone knows best what works for them and what they’re likely to stick with, even if it’s not the whole Bible in a year.

A typical post would look something like this:

Weekly reading:
AM: Psalms 1-7, 1 Samuel 1-9
PM: Genesis 1-7

Daily:
Mon, Jan 1: Psalm 1, 1 Samuel 1, Genesis 1
Tue, Jan 2: Psalm 2, 1 Samuel 2, Genesis 2
Wed, Jan 3: Psalm 3, 1 Samuel 3, Genesis 3
Thu, Jan 4: Psalm 4, 1 Samuel 4, Genesis 4
Fri, Jan 5: Psalm 5, 1 Samuel 5, Genesis 5
Sat, Jan 6: Psalm 6, 1 Samuel 6-7, Genesis 6
Sun, Jan 7: Psalm 7, 1 Samuel 8-9, Genesis 7

Once the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are done, the AM reading would come from only one book. If anyone thinks this would be helpful, I can work up or find a schedule and make this a regular post in 2024!

Don’t Leave Love Letters Unopened

Todd R 3 Comments
Photo by John Jennings on Unsplash

An old friend used to encourage me to read the Bible every day, and his reasoning was: “The Bible is 66 love letters from God.  If you got a love letter from any other person, would you put off reading it?”  It took many years before I really took this to heart, but I always remembered it. 

Dear fellow travelers,

I pass along that story, but I’ll also add more to it.  The best times are not when we just read these letters.  Devotions aren’t just lessons, memorization exercises, a disciplinary action, or a time to pay your dues so you can get on with your day.  They are time spent with Someone who loves you more than anything, and who wants you to love and trust Him more than anything.  Treat Him as you would treat an honored guest, because He is really there with you.

Think of it this way – How often do you get to spend time with someone who fulfills 1 Cor 13:4-7 perfectly?

Someone who is patient and kind; who does not envy or boast; is not arrogant or rude. Who does not insist on His own way; is not irritable or resentful; does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [1]

Nobody else we see today will be nearly as good to us.

We all miss days, even weeks or longer, but He is patient and kind.  We can try again tomorrow or later today, and He will be there.

[1] This paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 was suggested in a devotional I read last year: “August 30.” James Montgomery Boice and Marion Clark. Come to the Waters: Daily Bible Devotions for Spiritual Refreshment.  (2017).  It was also the basis of a prior post, Jesus is Patient and Kind Even When I am Not

The Bible: A Quint of Quotes

Todd R 2 Comments

Dear fellow travelers,

Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection, on the theme of the Bible.  I hope you find these five sayings interesting and thought-provoking.  What quotes about the Bible do you like?

Image by u_zscsfn7pja from Pixabay

“This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.” – D.L. Moody wrote this in the front of his Bible

“If people treated other books the way they treat the Bible, they would never learn anything.” – Warren Wiersbe

“Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which comes down from heaven?” – C.H. Spurgeon

“The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is by the New revealed.” – Saint Augustine

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17