The Best Bible Reading Program

Every December, I start thinking of ways to improve on my Bible reading.  It's hard to be consistent in our daily intake of scripture.   To get into a consistent groove requires discipline.  For some people, a 'Bible Reading Program' is just what the doctor ordered to help their oft-ailing study of God's Word.   I've looked at some of these programs year after year, and they certainly have their merit.   One program has you reading three or four chapters a day to get you through the whole Bible in a year.  Another program has you reading the same seven or eight chapters every day for a month, and then move on to a different seven or eight chapters the next month.  You don't get through the whole Bible in a year, but those chapters you read and re-read are cemented into your memory.   There are even websites that guide you daily through your assigned reading schedule.   Those kinds of Bible reading programs are good and vital for some people.  

I am a different kind of individual though.   Every time I ever tried a Bible reading program at the beginning of a new year, I end up failing by about the third week in January.   The reasons are varied, but more often than not, it ends up becoming a mechanical exercise.  This may not be true for everyone, but I have found the secret to the best Bible reading program for me:  TIME.  Spend TIME reading it.  As I mentioned in my previous post - if I simply dedicate more TIME to Jesus (part of that is Bible reading), then I will make it through the passages that He wants me to study.  If I open the Word on a regular basis, even a half-hour a day, I will read a significant portion of the Bible and be fed by the Holy Spirit's teaching.   For me, it doesn't have to be some elaborate system of checking off chapters.   Elaborate systems aren't for me.  Simple devotion to Christ through the daily reading of his Word is what works best for me.    If that means meditation on three short verses on one day, then great.  If I happen to make it through three short New Testament books the next day, then that is great too.