2017 DAILY BIBLE READING PLAN
by Al Lowry
Note from Eric Elder: If you’d like to join us in reading through the Bible in a year, you can start today with this “guilt-free” reading plan! Al Lowry describes it below, and there are links at the bottom of this message where you can view, print, and sign up for our “2017 Daily Bible Reading” plan. I hope you will! Here’s Al’s message…
With so many great devotionals out there to consider, how does one choose a good one to kick off the year?
I’m not kidding when I tell you I’ve begun dozens, but have often fallen short of completing these New Year’s resolutions.
More times than I like to think about, especially at the beginning of the year, I’ve voraciously dug into some new study and fallen off way too quickly. It’s been a vicious cycle of failures to me, and once again I’d end up getting down on myself for such incessant lack of discipline.
Then, 2 years ago, my friend, Eric, reset my course with a rather unique challenge: to read through the Bible in a year. I almost laughed when he suggested it, as I’ve desired to–and tried–many times before. I’ll confess to you that my results would have most likely had me discovering my bookmark buried somewhere in Genesis by year’s end.
So why would this reading plan succeed where so many others did not? Eric handed me a golden egg that gave the project hope where I had not seen it before.
The unique challenge of this yearly Bible read-through was preceded by 2 intriguing words: “guilt free.”
It was hard to grasp the concept when I already felt like a failure, believing that I’d just fall behind and drop out like other times. Then, he kindly elaborated to me how this “no-guilt” factor actually set the course for a no-fail agenda.
The idea was to break the yearly Bible readings into the usual bite-sized daily diet (no surprise there). The saving grace was not to be concerned with falling behind and getting frustrated and giving up. Technically, one could not fall behind, for even if that happened, the reader could resume on the appropriate day, and not worry or feel guilty about unread days. Of course, one would have the option of catching up on the missed text, but only if and when desired.
Initially, it seemed a little absurd to my type-A, overachievement gene to leave blocks of text behind, especially from such an important book. But eventually through careful thought, prayer and counsel from my friend, I began to realize that any devotional or even a topical church message could not thoroughly cover every biblical word every single time, and by taking this approach, I was likely to read more of the Bible by the end of the year than I would have ever read otherwise. All spiritual food we take in nourishes us as does the physical food we ingest. We would only starve if we failed to eat at all.
Logically, wouldn’t God reveal what I needed, and when I needed, it through even tiny mustard-sized efforts I offered up?
And so, exactly 2 years ago, I began my first guilt-free sojourn through the Bible, followed by a second year in 2016. Yes, I confess to missing or not focusing on many of the readings. But making it through at all was a major accomplishment in my life…and twice.
What I found along the way for myself, and I suspect would be helpful for some of you, are a few tricks that stack the deck toward really getting into the game–and finishing.
I’d like to share some with you:
1. Listen to the word:
The Bible tells us to do just that, and with so many audible versions available and devices to listen on, it’s pretty darn easy.
That is not to say reading it shouldn’t be done as well, or in lieu of listening, but just try to have a listenable Bible version to help carry you through. Sometimes I would turn it on when I couldn’t sleep and would then doze off. (Guilty me would accuse myself of cheating and feel the need to listen again. Guilt-free me would praise God in the morning for breaking my insomnia and allowing me much needed sleep.)
2. Write it down:
Jot down some thoughts along the way, and you’ll be as surprised as I was at the clarity it will bring. You may even find times when these thoughts can help others.
Sometimes days or even a week would go by without writing. But then, I would have some inspiration and these reflections, or devotionals, became ways to capture God’s voice. I offered them to others, and I have them still to reflect on.
I actually had no idea how much I had written until I started looking back through my notes. No need to be excellent authors in order to capture and help clarify an idea God gives to us. Rather, simply surrender ourselves to be willing conduits.
3. Don’t go it alone:
The Bible states that two are stronger than one, and three are like the wrapped cords of a rope, not easily broken. I found this to be so true, and I can’t state it enough. Before I started, I invited everyone I knew, and strangers alike, to join me on a special Facebook page.
This community became a small group that listened to my thoughts on passages and my prayer requests, and they shared theirs. We shared a passage that touched us, or frustrations that we were having in our readings or in our lives.
This group need not be a replacement for church or a small group, but I just have to tell you that walking with others and being accountable is how this worked for me. Maybe it could for you too.
That being said, I’m ready to take the plunge again and would like to invite you to come along. Thank you old friends, who have said you’ll join me again. It is through your encouragement and inspiration that I feel confident to give it another go. And I would certainly love it if new readers join our adventure.
So, if you’ve felt God’s nudging to read the Bible in 2017, please feel free to come on board. We’d love to have you.
This year, I’m going to try something new and go straight through the Bible in book order–from cover to cover–from Genesis to Revelation.
Here’s a link to our “2017 Daily Bible Reading” plan (you can click any passage from this link to read it or listen to it in MP3 Audio, OR you can sign up to receive each passage by email every day at about the same time of day that you sign up):
2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan
And here’s a PDF of the same plan which you can print on one piece of paper (if you print it on both sides) to keep in your Bible. You can also click the links to each passage in this PDF if you want to read it online):
PDF of the 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan
To join our Facebook group and encourage each other as we read along, click this link and request to join:
Facebook Group for 2017 Daily Bible Reading
And if you’d like to sign up for my emails (usually weekly) to encourage you along the way, just visit my website (which I’ve set up specifically for this purpose) and click “Follow”:
Visit Al’s website and click “Follow” for encouragement along the way
May God bless you and your families in the upcoming year. And if it falls onto your heart, let Him bless you in a special way through this Daily Bible Reading… GUILT-FREE!!!
