as i sat down this morning to spend time with Jesus, i was so thankful for my reading plan.
mostly because if it wasn’t there, i would spend the first 10 minutes of my time trying to figure out what to read AND also because i only have to read one chapter a day which leaves me time to dig into the scripture (cross reference, meditate, reflect, apply).
reasons i am thankful for my current reading plan
1. i tried the no plan – i rarely read and whenever i felt i had time to read or i wanted to read i spent forever trying to figure out what God wanted me to read that i never really read.
2. i tried the one year plan – i always fell behind and felt super guilty. i also felt like i spent the majority of my time flipping around my Bible and reading from four different books that i never really meditated on what the Word was saying, i just read it to accomplish my plan.
3. i tried the just read though the Bible cover to cover plan – i got so bored in the exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy stretch that i stopped somewhere in all those OT laws. i can get through one and even enjoy it, but there is something hard about reading them all in order! So that was my Bible life. The more Igrow in my relationship with the Lord, the more that i want to spend daily time in the Word. i just always had such a hard time making time for that.
bruce & i are part of a wonderful small group of friends who meet together every week to spend time intentionally getting to know each other and Jesus better. we all go to different churches and we all met each other in different ways. we are married couples, dating couples, and singles. we are a bunch of twenty somethings who realized that we all had struggled getting into the Word daily.
in september of 2012 we chose to commit to doing a bible reading plan together to keep each other accountable. one in which we would do the reading alloted for each week and then come together to discuss what we learned in our quiet times. to be intentional we all try to come prepared with at least one section that challenged us and section we have still may have questions about.
the reading plan we chose is the 5x5x5 reading plan. it has been one of my favorite “reading plans” that i have encountered. it goes book by book but not cover to cover. and you read one chapter a day for five days each week. that means you get two freebies each week! you know, the mornings you accidently slept in or the days that you double booked yourself and there are not enough minutes in the day to get everything done?! yep. you get those ones off the hook. also, it only takes five minutes to read through one chapter – everyone can make time for five minutes. but even better, it is only one chapter so you can dig deeper into what the text is saying. the plan also includes five ways to dig deeper if you are at a loss for what to do.
i am not perfect. i find myself reading two or three chapters in one day and taking multiple “freebies” some weeks. but it is easy to get caught up on five chapters. i also know that every tuesday i will be held accountable to if i did the reading. that helps me not go longer than a week without picking up my Bible.
A chapter a day keeps my heart in check.
i need that. i need that to be a better wife and friend. i need His wisdom and guidance as i make decisions at my job and i need His kindness and graciousness when interacting with people.
if you are looking for a Bible reading plan, i would suggest this one. i also get an email every day from She Reads Truth which is a great, encouraging blog focused on spending time in the Word. they also have reading plan!
man this is good. i saw your instagram this morning and immediately went to both the 5x5x5 plan and she reads truth. 🙂 i'm going to do the "she reads truth: fresh start" and then switch to 5x5x5 once i'm done. i had started reading through Mark recently but was having a hard time even being consistent with that! best friend, you're right. time with jesus is the MOST important and DAILY time with him does keep my heart in check. thank you for being open and honest and reminding me to do this. i'm super excited to start this reading plan!
it's a really good plan! Your reasons also. i have not really a reading plan because I feel a little overwhelmed by all my hobbies and always renege on my plans. but I will also read more books this year. I finished one yet and started a new one yesterday.
Wish you lots of success 🙂
http://individualemotion.blogspot.de/
I may have to check this reading plan out when I finish my old testament minor prophets plan! I too have trouble keeping up with the readings, so I decided to pick one that isn't a whole year and I am giving myself 2x the time to get through it as they give me! that way I can skip days (since I also do a she reads truth devo)
Love this post. I too have been struggling with reading plans for all of the same reasons you have listed. I have done several of the She Reads Truths reading plans as well as some you version plans. But have felt God laying on my heart for a long time to read the entire Bible – but I never knew how to do it 'constructively' since I would start and end up behind and feel like I was reading the most random 'smattering' of chapters/books together and not being able to dig deep.
Thank you for the beautiful encouragement. I am going to print the 5x5x5 plan tomorrow and begin to conquer it. No matter how long it takes me to get through I am going to.
Love reading through books of the Bible. Every time I think I've decided a book is my favorite, I read through another one, and decide its equally amazing.
Glad you found my blog and I got to find yours 🙂
I just found your blog through looking around. So glad that I found it. Love this post. We need to be better about it. One of your newest followers.
xo
Jessa
lifeofasportswife.blogspot.com
hi i just found your blog and i am in need of prayer and some advice if you can, me and my boyfriend are both very weak in our faith, when we desided to start reading together we had no idea how to start, so i was wondering if you may have any ideas on how, or have a form of reading pan you would recomend
Hello!
I am so excited for you two and the journey you are on! I think one of the most important things is getting plugged into a community at church! Find people that you can process what you read with 🙂 Also, I recommend doing book studies first! Start with the new testament and read book by book talking about what your are learning! The gospels are packed with so much goodness! I highly recommend following She REads Truth http://shereadstruth.com/
and Pray Every Day! https://www.facebook.com/PrayerJournal
I hope that helps 🙂 XOXO
hi i just found your blog and i am in need of prayer and some advice if you can, me and my boyfriend are both very weak in our faith, when we desided to start reading together we had no idea how to start, so i was wondering if you may have any ideas on how, or have a form of reading pan you would recomend
Hello!
I am so excited for you two and the journey you are on! I think one of the most important things is getting plugged into a community at church! Find people that you can process what you read with 🙂 Also, I recommend doing book studies first! Start with the new testament and read book by book talking about what your are learning! The gospels are packed with so much goodness! I highly recommend following She REads Truth http://shereadstruth.com/
and Pray Every Day! https://www.facebook.com/PrayerJournal
I hope that helps 🙂 XOXO
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It's on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the
same layout and design. Great choice of colors!
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