Today I just finished reading through the Bible. It takes me a little longer than others but I am okay with that. I have developed a plan that works for me and I am happy with that. For years I tried using the “One Year Bible” or a one year Bible reading plan. Honestly, I have never finished any of them. Most of them became very frustrating to me for a couple of reasons.

One, most reading schedules are based on reading everyday seven days a week. Well, I try to take most Saturdays off completely. I know this sounds sacrilegious, but I read magazines on Saturdays or maybe an occasional article on the internet – nothing serious. Then on Sunday I am busy with Church most of the day. I read the Bible in class and in sermons and sometimes in discussions. I usually do not have any private quiet time because of the busyness of the day. I am easily able to make time Monday to Friday to read because of my normal routine but weekends are hard.

Two, I have a hard time focusing when I try to read my Bible alone. I am slightly ADD and when I start reading I get sidetracked in my mind and I never seem to get my chapters read. You add that to a plan that reads one chapter of Old Testament history, one chapter poetry, one chapter gospel and one chapter from the New Testament letters. I am usually so distracted that I cannot remember what I read.

So a few years ago I developed a simple plan that works for me. I bought the Bible on CD to listen to – they now have Mp3’s that do the same thing. Then Monday through Friday I listen to 3-5 chapters read to me. The number of chapters read usually depends on the length of the chapters. Each day I take out my Bible and read along while underlining favorite or important passages. I don’t worry if I miss a day but I try to stay fairly disciplined. As a result I am regularly (not yearly) reading through the Bible.

This is a simple plan that works for me. What works for you? My encouragement is to find a plan or a method that works for you and simply do it. You may try several things that don’t work first, but if they do not work I would suggest you not try the same pattern again. Try something different until you find a plan that works. I never thought I could read through the whole Bible and I just finished doing it again. I know you can too.