Make 2023 The Best Yet! How To Read The Bible In A Year.

Have you started past new years with every intention to read the bible in a year, only to end up discouraged? Today I am sharing an amazing tool and together we can read (and understand) the bible in a year. Bring on 2023!

I LOVE all of the “newness” that January brings. We set aside time to focus on goals of developing healthy habits and lifestyle adjustments that we know would improve our lives if we can just get them to stick.

To be honest, there have been more Januarys than I can count that started off with the goal to read through the bible in a year. I would start strong but I’d fall behind once I finished Exodus, never to catch up again. You too?

Often our approach to reading the bible sets us up for failure. Many of us tend to view Scripture as a “self-help” book and we look for the warm, fuzzy take-away that applies to us in whatever we are reading.

It is critical to remember that the bible was written over the span of 1500 years and there are different literary styles throughout. The literary styles of the bible are narrative, poetry, and prose discourse (laws, letters and sermons). The bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, made up of 66 books, yet all telling a unified story, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

If we start reading the book of Leviticus (law discourse) with the approach of reading a self-help book, we end us asking “How does this apply to me”? we can feel confused and overwhelmed.

In 2022 I did read through all of the bible, but I found myself longing to do more than just read it. I want to understand deeper. I don’t want to just check off the confusing books and not understand why they are included in Scripture. I want to know my God more intimately by reading and understanding the bible.

I realized that I wanted to approach 2023 differently and discovered a great resource called The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble. The Bible Recap (linked here) is a one-year guide to read and understand the entire bible!

The bible reading plan averages about 3 chapters a day. We all can make time for that, right? The plan also is in chronological order (linked here), so it begins by going through the first 11 chapters of Genesis, and then chronologically, the book of Job is next.

I love the questions that the author encourages us ask as we read Scripture. Instead of only asking “How does this apply to me?” ask:

• What does God say or do in this passage?
• What does this reveal about what God loves?
• What does this reveal about what God hates?
• What does this reveal about what motivates God to do what He does?
• In all of that, what attributes of God are displayed?

In 2023 the goal is, yes to read the bible in a year, but more importantly, it is to understand the whole of Scripture more. It is to know God, His character, and see His faithfulness, kindness, and love from Genesis to Revelation.

What about you? If you don’t yet have a bible reading plan for 2023, I’d love to have you join me!

P.S. This year I will be using the ESV Study Bible (linked here), alongside The Bible Recap, One Year Guide (linked here).