You wanna know something? I’ve never read through the entire Bible.
I was raised in Christianity, Sunday school, youth group and all of the above. I’ve been involved in a ton of different Bible studies with people, yet I’ve never read the entire Bible.
To be honest I’ve never really cared to just read straight through the Bible. I’ve always thought those “read the Bible in a year” plans were kind of lame. I’m sure people are able to grow in Christ by doing those, but I’ve just always thought that it would be better to go slower and read certain things over and over until they click.
Another reason that I never wanted to read straight through the Bible is because our Bible is not in historical order, either by order of events or even the order that the books and letters were written. I feel like we can have better understanding when the Bible is read in historical context. (I’m really thankful for the various works that do put the Bible into historical context and order.)
So why am I bringing all of this up?
Lately I’ve had the desire to actually read straight through the entire Bible. I’ve always stuck more to reading the New Testament, especially over the last couple of years. My knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament is pretty minimal really. I think it makes sense when Christians read the New Testament more than the Old to be honest. I mean, The New Testament is where the reality of all of the Old Testament shadows is introduced, that is, Jesus Christ. But since I’ve gained a better glimpse into the centrality and supremacy of Jesus of Christ I’ve been wanting to know Him better through the Old Testament, especially because Jesus said of Himself that “…all Scripture points to me.”
That is what I want. I want to know Jesus deeper. I want to understand the Lord that dwells inside of me as well as in His entire body. What better way to do this than to see all of the shadows of Him as well as the reality of Him all at once? I know that there’s no way to comprehend all of this through a simple reading of the Bible, or even a thousand readings for that matter.
Have you ever just read straight the Old and New Testaments? Did you find it helpful or did it turn out to be just a chore?
First, let me say that I’m a reading machine practically, and have always read a lot and been able to read fast, and therefore learned not to hold everybody else to my standards of how I read, so take the following as just my journey.
When I got saved, one of the two local Bible college’s (the one my church was affiliated with) had this piece of paper with each book of the Bible named, and then the numbers of each chapter written on it. How you would use this is that you’d keep it in your Bible and x off each chapter of the books of the Bible you’ve read, and that way you could see what you’ve been reading and what you still had yet to read. Once I did this, I started circling the numbers. So the first two times I read through the Bible, were not in order, but most certainly, I had read all the contents of the Bible. I first did this with the NIV, then the NLT.
Then, around the age of 18, I got a new translation, the NKJV and decided to start in Genesis–oh I forgot to mention I was high lighter and marker crazy. But I had a system of coloring or underlining verses that pertained to a certain theme, at at that time I wanted to find “all” the verses in the Bible on certain subjects. I read thru the entire Bible (Gen to Rev) this way, and repeated the process. At that time, my last year of high school, I had read the Bible from cover to cover at least 3 times. One of those occasions was during a month, but I was not being as systematic about marking it up as I was about reading it.
Then, gradually over the years since I’ve started off in Genesis, but bounced around, and this has helped me not get stuck in one spot. Once I’ve read thru geneologies once, I just skip them, but otherwise, I DO think it’s a good idea for every Christian to plow through the entire Bible at least once–the earlier in their walk with God the better. But, to avoid it becoming a chore, some people might find it easier to bounce around and use a method like I described above.
Now, I try taking individual books of the Bible, like Song of Solomon, or 1 John or a Gospel, but especially something small and read it and only it for every day for maybe a month. Just meditating on the same passages, and I find they help me in a profound way as well.
At any rate, having a goal or a system is helpful, but if you get in a rut it’s OK to be flexible and bounce around.
Hope that helps some!
Thanks for sharing, Steve! It’s good to see how other believers go about their Bible reading / studying. I’m looking forward to going through the entire Bible. I usually do like you said and bounce around. Sometimes it’s based on a certain topic and others it’s just focusing on one book for an extended period of time. At any rate, I agree that it is important for Christians to have a good understanding of the Old and New Testaments in order to see a fuller picture of God’s eternal purpose and Christ Himself.
I’ve done it twice and I’m glad for both. The Old and New Testament writings are equally important. As you eluded to yourself, “all scripture points to Jesus.” also, being a person who understands much of the NT, you will find the OT to be a real eye-opener, connected all the dots and how’s and whys of everything you already know.
Word. Thanks Kenn, I agree. By the way, I’m gonna get a hold of you to hang soon.
I’ll certainly hold you to that.
Hi! When it comes to reading the Bible, I’ve made it a personal goal this year to read it straight through. Having been raised in church (and having a great love for the Bible), I’m sure I’ve read it through over the course of my life. But I want to do it in an organized fashion this year.
My problem has always been that I gravitate toward my favorite books and read and re-read them over and over (Genesis, Job, the Gospels, Acts…). I’m in Exodus right now and it’s fascinating!
Thanks for sharing, Joi!
I’ve decided to attempt reading through it after writing this post. I think think the biggest hindrance for me in reading straight through is that the Bible is not organized in chronological order, neither by events or the of writing. For this I’m really thankful for works like the Chronological Study Bible and a book called The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola.
Despite this I am reading through the New Testament and Old Testament, but currently not on a schedule.
Thanks again for sharing!