My Objection To Reading The Bible In A Year

““The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” -A.W. Tozer

“This is the year,” I told myself, “this is the year I’m going to read the entire Bible in a year.”

I was even given a gift of a beautiful leather bound “The Daily Bible” in my favorite translation (The New Living). I was so determined and motivated in January. Now, here we are almost August, and I’m on February 19th in my One Year Bible plan.

It’s what happens every year- I give up trying to read the Bible in a year. How come I get so discouraged reading a one year Bible plan?

Recently I had some insight as to why I’m not able to read the whole Bible in a year. I believe it’s because reading The Daily Bible every morning instead of doing my normal routine for my quiet time with Jesus makes me feel spiritually disconnected with Him.

Replacing my daily quiet time routine with a reading plan leaves me feeling spiritually dry.

Let me explain…You see, my normal routine of spending time with God daily goes like this: I read the message from a devotional and then, since most devotionals always have one or two scripture passages that the message supports, I go to that chapter in my bible and read that entire chapter, not just the one verse that was in the devotional. I then highlight a verse or two that resonates with my heart, journal these verses and spend time in prayer. This is how I spend my quiet time with God every day (click here to read my blog post “How to Spend Time With God”). Through this routine, I am able to nurture my relationship with Jesus. This morning discipline, however takes time.

Reading the Word of God, The Holy Bible, is a critical part of our relationship with Him. God guides, counsels, comforts, and reveals Himself to us through His Word.

What I discovered about myself this year was that when I replace The Daily Bible (or any one year Bible plan) with my normal way of getting in God’s Word, I felt I lost intimacy with God. In other words, I was stifling the flow of the Holy Spirit in my life. Hence why I began to feel dry and lifeless in the Spirit.

Allow the Holy Spirit to be free to lead you to the word He has for you for that day.

I’m not saying that reading the Bible in a year is wrong or bad. It definitely is not. What I am saying is that it’s critical you be in touch with how the Holy Spirit may be leading you. The most important thing is to be honest with yourself and do whatever it takes to spend quality time with Jesus. A reading plan feels too legalistic to me, but I know it is extremely helpful for many, including for my husband. He shared with me that reading the Bible in a year helps him build a regular habit of daily Bible reading, which is a discipline he needs help with. For me, however, I’m learning to accept that my personal connection with Jesus cannot be replaced with a reading plan. This is true for me. It may or may not be true for you.

I encourage you to be true to yourself, and if you are like me, you may have to carve out a separate time of the day to follow a one year Bible reading plan, if you are not connecting spiritually with the Lord through your one year reading plan. His Word is alive and He speaks to us through it (John 1:1). We may or may not connect with Him through a daily reading plan.

Read the Bible to build intimacy and enjoy knowledge of a good and loving God.

The key is to remember the reason why we read our Bibles-to grow an intimate understanding and relationship with God (2 Timothy 3:16). So whether you do a one year Bible plan or you don’t, is irrelevant. What’s important is to connect with your Creator, through His word.

I am still reading The Daily Bible plan, but now I’m reading it separate from my morning quiet time with Jesus (hence why I’m only of February 19th!). I’ve given myself permission to not feel pressured to read it all in one year. It’s okay to take two years to read the entire Bible.

There is no shame in not reading through the Bible in one year.

I would love to hear your thoughts on reading the Bible in a year-are you for it or do you, like me, object to it? While I wait for your response, I’m going to step away to catch up on my Daily Bible reading plan. May you, like me, find comfort in knowing that our Father in Heaven is pleased that we, His beloved children, desire to make daily Bible reading a priority.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ~ John 1:1