Choosing a Bible Reading Plan: Part 1
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”
You don’t get much more basic in Bible Study than the practice of reading Scripture. There are a plethora of ways to go about this, not to mention endless options of plans, apps and methods. That being said, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
Read on to learn the simple method that helps me choose what to read in the Bible each year. This is a description of what I’ve found beneficial over the years, and is one among many you can choose to follow.
Here is the overarching “Coast Over, Dive Under” method:
“Coast Over”- Read the entire Bible from cover to cover, and
“Dive Under”- Choose four books of the Bible to study in depth throughout the year, each book for a three month span.
Imagine that God’s Word is an Ocean and you own the Hyper-Sub; a vessel designed by HSP Technologies that functions as both a “high-speed surface craft and a deep sea dive submarine” (description taken from their website).
If you’ve ever read through the Bible in one year, you know the pace is fast. You cover a lot of territory in little time. Just like when the Hyper-Sub is in it’s high-speed surface craft mode, you are merely skimming the surface. There simply won’t be sufficient time to slow down, do word searches, look up cross references, learn about the literary, biblical, and historical context, meditate on what a particular passage is communicating, and the like. That’s okay, and is precisely why the “Coast Over” and “Dive Under” complement one another so wonderfully.
This high level overview of reading the Bible may feel frustrating at times, but it is not in vain. You are making consistent, steady, deposits of the Word into your heart and mind over time. God will be faithful to help you retain what is necessary in that particular year or season and to enable you to recall it in time of need. Pray for those things as you read.
Keep a document of questions that pop up along the way that you don’t have the bandwidth to dig into now and pull them up when that particular book is one of your “Dive Under’s”.
Take hold of one verse each day that taught you something new of the character of God. Cling to one truth, one promise, one phrase.Then, by God’s grace, trudge forward. Clarity will emerge over the years. You will be astounded that as you read the same words and the same story, different truths, promises and revelation about who God is and what he has done to save sinners will be illuminated to you.
Curious about the “Dive Under” aspect of the method?
