I’ve mentioned a time or two that I have finished my Day by Day Chronological Bible after I finished reading the full Bible for my All 66 Books series. So it was time to think about what I wanted my Bible time to look like going forward. I knew that I wanted to spend the majority of the time studying because so much of the past year has been focusing on reading. But I was stuck on what I wanted to study.
Topical Studies
I knew that I didn’t want to do topical studies. Not that there is anything wrong with them, and I believe that in some seasons, they are necessary. But for me, I’m really trying to focus on the metanarrative of the Bible. I want to read it in as close of a manner as it was written without the chance of potentially taking verses out of context.
Chronologically
Which leads me back to chronologically reading. Do I want to find a way to study the Bible in chronological order? Can I admit I am not all that excited to study Genesis? Or really much of the Torah/Pentateuch. This makes me feel kind of bad because there is so much to learn from those books. But I know from previous experience that if I start with those books, I will, without a doubt, not continue with my habit or reading and studying God’s Word. But I know that if I pick a book that holds my interest first, then the habit will be built. And then if I wanted, I can go back to the Torah/Pentateuch.
Old Testament vs. New Testament
When I think about where I want to start, I often think about the Prophets and the Epistles. The Epistles because they are the closest to how we should be living life today as the church. But I have officially read through them at least twice in the past 12 months alone. And while I would love to do an in-depth study, I am kind of ready for something different. The Prophets because I’ve never studied them before, but I feel like I am called to them. But one thing I learned from reading the Bible chronologically was that the prophets are very much intertwined into many of the history books. So if I am going to read the Prophets, I really need to go back to Judges and start there.
My Decision
So I think that is what I am going to do. I am starting with the book of Judges. I am drawn to Judges because I believe it was the first book where I had my ah-ha moment when it came to the Bible. I was clearly able to see the cycle of sin, crying out to God, God sending a judge, repentance and then sin again. And I strongly feel that we are repeating history and doing the same thing. Except God has already sent Christ to forgive us of our sins once and for all. Plus God is the only Judge we need and now the only one we have.
Then I am going to read the Bible in chronological order from there. I think after I finish the Old Testament, I am going to go back later to read the Torah/Pentateuch before I move onto the New Testament. I’ll share my day to day study on IG/FB in my current Bible reading post that I do each day. Here is the thing. I don’t know what this will look like. I don’t know if I will do 1 chapter a day. Or 1 verse a day. Because I am going to allow the text to guide me. I’m going to look at cross-references. I am going to follow my questions. I’m going to look at multiple translations. I’m going to look into Inductive Bible Studying and BibleTalk.TV lectures. But I really do want you to follow along with me if you can. So I will try to be as organized as possible with this.
One final thing that I will be doing is reading the four gospels monthly and in different translations each month. I’m mainly doing this because I know me, and I will most likely end up craving more time in God’s Word. Adding in a reading plan allows me not to push myself too far ahead in my studying. I got this idea from Eva Kubasiak‘s Bible Study Summit, where Kelli Cross said that she is following along with Annie F. Downs to do this plan. Although I didn’t start in January, it gives me eight months to read through the Gospels 8 times. I can’t wait. I created this snapshot for me to use while doing it.
So I do hope that you join me. I would love to talk to others about what we are studying. Let me know in the comments if you will be joining me.
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