Have a Plan
If you are going to get the most from God’s Word, you will need to have a plan. Attempting to read the Bible without a plan is something like landing at LaGuardia International Airport on Monday and hoping to take in all of New York City by Wednesday…without an itinerary.
Often when visiting the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona, I have seen busloads of foreign tourists who have seen more of our grand country than most Americans have! These travelers will fly to Los Angeles, see the sights, and then catch a “puddle jumper” to Las Vegas. They’ll take in the major landmarks and then catch a tour bus for a view of the Southwest, including the South Rim of the Canyon.
How can this be? How is it that they make so much of the limited time they possess?The answer is that they have invested themselves into the endeavor, giving time and money. They know that the only way to make the most of their time and not waste all they have spent is to plan out their journey.
Likewise, a journey through the Bible merits a workable plan. What constitutes a good plan?
FIND THE BEST PLACE
First of all, choose a place for reading your Bible. Consistency in what you do is often tied to consistency in where you do it! Take eating supper, for example.
For many Americans today, supper is a hurried and haphazard affair, grabbed at various times and eaten at the place most convenient at the moment, whether that place be a desk, a TV tray, or a mahogany table. The average modern diet has suffered from this approach.
I’m not wringing my hands about modern eating habits, but I am in earnest about knowing what God has said and having a healthy diet for a healthy soul. If I want to consistently take in God’s Word, it will serve me well to find a good place to read the Bible that is consistent through weekends, holidays, and possible distractions.
FIND THE BEST TIME
Your schedule will play a big part in determining the “right place” to read. For instance, reading your Bible at the kitchen table at seven o’clock in the morning is very different than reading at the kitchen table at twelve noon! You don’t just need a place; you need space.
“Finding space” has a time element to it. That means you need to make a time to read. What is the best time? The best time is a time that will best accommodate a fresh mind and a quiet space. When would that be for you?
When I was growing up, every self-respecting preacher I had ever heard on the subject was bound to preach that the time to read the Bible is in the morning, preferably very early! I have sometimes read my Bible in the evenings. But as I have grown older I have found my own premium time slot. Do you know when that is?
At this point in my life I am tempted to state dogmatically, as did the preachers of my boyhood, that the time to read is in the morning, preferably very early! In fact, though I have never considered myself a “morning person,” something my family (those who are awake, anyway) can confirm, I have found that mornings have become my favorite part of the day.
“Why?!” you ask. Space. Room. Quiet. I read under the soft, sure light of a floor lamp, not under the heat lamp of an aging sun and the day’s demands.
When it is all said and done, I doubt very seriously that you care when I read! While I have my reasons for feeling passionately that morning is the best time to have devotions, you are a different person with a different schedule.
Whatever you do, be willing to have an open mind on the matter. Don’t live down to your own expectations. (“I’m just not a morning person!”).
Some people work at night and sleep during the day. They are going to find “space” in a different way than I do! No matter your schedule, even the “best time” for you will require hard work in order to make time for God’s Word.
FIND THE BEST PACE
Whenever you make time to be in God’s Word, don’t rush your reading! Remember that the goal is getting the Truth, not getting through the Bible. Reading through the Bible in a year is a noble goal. I think that you can do it! But the real goal is not to “conquer the Bible”; it is to let the Bible conquer you.
I just mentioned the Grand Canyon a moment ago because it is a place my family loves. I have hiked it numerous times, first with my dad when I was in high school, then with college buddies, and now with my wife and kids. But it was not until I hiked it with my wife that I realized how much of the Canyon I had missed before, even while hiking into the very depths.
I discovered, after hiking it for the first time with my wife, that I had previously made the hike up out of the Canyon a race, a test of manhood, if you will. Although it had never been stated out loud, every time I had hiked out of the Grand Canyon with my friends, there had been a goal that sharpened as we approached the top. I was not going to be the last guy out! In fact, I was going to be the first one out, the champion grinning down sympathetically at the poor slobs dragging themselves up behind me! I had made good time, but I had missed a great view.
When I hiked out with my wife, she allowed me to save face when I was too tired to go for the gold. As friends passed us up on the way out, I could blame my wife. I was not slow; I was gallant! Chivalry was alive and well. I was simply waiting for my lovely wife.
Whatever the reasons for a slower pace on the way up and out of the Grand Canyon, I saw much more than I would have if I had merely strained at my pack and stared blindly at the boot treads ahead of me. Shapes, colors, scents, depths, and echoes that had gone unnoticed before now sprang up from the world around me. I now had the time to “get it.”
Sometimes we are making such great time reading through the Bible that we don’t know what we have read. If this describes you, then you lose!
When your goal is to understand, you will feel free to read the same chapter a second day in a row, if need be! I usually read the Bible a chapter at a time, but this may not be the best pace for you, and that is fine. There have been times when I have read only half of a chapter in the morning.
You might read a paragraph at a time. You might read one story at a time. You may read more than a chapter or two on some days, and on some days you may read less. The point is to read the Bible in such a way that your reading is connected and coherent.
So make a plan, map your journey, savor each step, and prepare for a world worth exploring. Reading the Bible deliberately will enliven your understanding of God’s timeless truth. And a greater understanding of God’s truth will provide you with a fuller understanding of the life He has created you to live!