Bible Reading For Busy People

It’s Done!

Edwin — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:53:20 +0000

Today I have completed Isaiah, the last book on my reading list. This time it took me nearly 18 months to read through the Bible. Tomorrow I will start a new cycle, and this will be my 3rd round reading through the Bible.

I am still thinking if I should continue logging my progress in this blog, start a new blog, or not blog at all.

Seeing the Finish Line

Edwin — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:44:10 +0000

I had been working through the rest of Psalms and Isaiah in parallel. They are the last 2 books I have to read. I just finished Psalms yesterday and 17 of Isaiah as of today. I always consider Isaiah to be the toughest book in the Bible. Perhaps I don’t know it well. My plan is to finish it this a week. Then I will finish the entire Bible!

This will be my second time going through the Bible systematically. This time, it takes me 17 months. I am already planning to start the new cycle of Bible reading. I have created a new spreadsheet to record my readings. I have also formulated some reading guidelines in my mind. I have through of a possibility of doing a blog again.

Year-end Status

Edwin — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:50:45 +0000

It has been a while since my last post. I wished I could have posted more. It was only that every time I wanted to sit down and write something, I had this thinking that I might as well spend the time to read the Bible more.

So here it is, now at the end of the year. How am I doing?

Well, I have not finished the whole Bible yet. I completed the New Testament. As for the Old Testament, I still have the Proverbs, 135 Psalms, and the Prophets to read. Here are the list:

Psalms
Proverbs
Isaiah
Jeremiah/Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel/Obadiah
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Nahum/Zephaniah
Habakkuk
Haggai/Zechariah
Malachi

I have therefore decided to extend my target to end of March next year. I need to read on average 100 verses per day.

Progress – 13th Week

Edwin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:14:19 +0000

c/d: 3:47 v/d: 86.52

I took a deep breath this morning, after I finished the last chapter of Deuteronomy. I completed the Pentateuch!

There it was, a great man of God, Moses. His death marked the end of a dramatic chapter of the Israelites. The last 10-or-so chapters of Deuteronomy was tough. Indeed, the verses were quite repetitive. In this way, it shows the importance of the message itself – the Canaan Covenant.

Now, as the Israelites move on to conquer some lands, I also move on with my Bible reading! My next book to conquer is the Gospel of John.

Progress – 8th Week

Edwin — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:52:25 +0000

c/d: 3:35 v/d: 85.63

A lot of things happened around me this week. I still tried to do at least one chapter per day. I finally finished Exodus. The second half was really tough though.

I still remember a popular saying. Whenever someone admits to have failed his Bible reading plan, another person would ask, “So you could not complete your exodus from the book Exodus?”

Progress – 7th Week

Edwin — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:47:46 +0000

c/d: 3:33 v/d: 85.50

I finished Genesis 1 day earlier. Then I started to lag behind in the pass few days in Exodus. But I am still on track.

The One-Month Milestone

Edwin — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:00:59 +0000

For those who have started their yearly reading plans at the beginning of this year, and are still on track, congratulations!

You have completed 1/12 of the Bible. You may not notice how significant this milestone is. But I believe it is an achievement that you really need to celebrate.

How long does a typical New Year’s resolution last? A month? Now that you have passed this threshold, you are already in a better shape than most people.

If you are doing daily reading, you probably have a sense of establishing a daily routine, or a habit. Now that you have established this routine, it is a matter of maintaining it. Yes, you still need to put in effort to maintain it.

For those who are doing it for the first time, it is a good time to ask yourselves, how do you like it? I hope that you find it really helps in understanding the Word of God, and it brings you closer to God.

Progress – 5th Week

Edwin — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:21:33 +0000

c/d: 3:31 v/d: 85.58

I finished Genesis 34 today.

How about you? Given up already?

Creating a Habit

Edwin — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 14:00:25 +0000

For those who have problem keeping up with their Bible reading, there is a simple solution: turn it into a habit.

It is now almost a month for those who have started their Bible reading plans at the beginning of this year. Given that our determinism usually lasts for a month, now could be a time for some to start struggling, or having a tiny thought of considering the possibility of giving up. The idea of turning Bible reading into a habit is to put it into an automatic mode, so that you don’t need to have the feeling of putting up a lot of effort in doing it.

I am sure many of us would have heard about this idea many times, or even attempt it. For some, we just find it impractical and decide to give it up. After all, we are all busy people. This just seems to be something too expensive for us to do.

I wouldn’t claim to be good at it, but let me share a few tips based on my own experience:

Perform the task at the same time everyday – This includes the weekends. My preference is some time in the morning, but it is all up to each individual.
Don’t make it too long – I would say 15-30 minutes is good enough. Remember, ideally you still need to allocate time for devotional.
Create a check list – you would check off something on the list once you have accomplished each daily reading. You can refer to it from time to time and look back at those days that you have actually made it. It surely gives you a kind of satisfaction. In addition, you just don’t want to create a ‘hole’ on the list by missing a day.

Please let me know if you have any other tips or tricks.

Progress – 4th Week

Edwin — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:00:42 +0000

c/d: 3:29 v/d: 85.55

I just finished Genesis 17 today. This is when God promises Abraham a son from Sarah (and not anyone else). My fellowship spent most of last year doing detailed Bible Study on Abraham’s life. Reading these chapters again in the past few days gives me a nice refreshment.