I’m still not sure why a paperback Every Day Bible clicked for me in a way that a checklist could not. And God used an inexpensive copy of his precious Word to show me that sometimes we just need to try a different tool. No study notes or concordance-just Scripture, every day. It has selections for 365 days to take readers through the entire Bible (and twice through the Psalms) every calendar year. This simple volume had a straightforward layout. But as I read the cover and description of this Every Day Bible, my heart was stirred. I own lovely leather study Bibles in multiple translations, so I was not on the market for another Bible. While browsing a bookstore one day, I saw a cheap paperback Bible. While there was certainly sin in my heart to take to Jesus in repentance, God also answered my plea for help in an unexpected way. Why else would I be such a dismal dropout? I brought my frustration to the Lord in prayer. I became convinced there was a deep sin problem hiding in my heart. He’s still plugging away at his reading plan, while I’ve long since given up. Then I tried to get my husband on board for accountability. New Year’s resolutions aren’t really my thing anyway, and I still struggled. So I tried to start a reading plan in the middle of the year. Bible Plan DropoutĮvery time I abandoned my plan after just a few weeks or months, and I grew discouraged. And I even tried no plan at all except to start in Genesis and keep going. I tried chronological plans, one-year plans, three-year plans.

So I would gather my resolve at the approach of every new year and commit to a Bible reading plan. Meanwhile, my own Bible hypocritically remained shut. I could make a very compelling argument to a new believer about the importance of reading God’s Word every day. I swayed between the two extremes of deep, rich Bible study and weeks or months of nothing at all. Since the Bible is the primary way God has chosen to reveal himself to mankind, I was quick to affirm its importance.īut still, my knowledge of what is good and true often didn’t transform the way I lived. When I started to grow as a follower of Jesus in my twenties, I learned right away that an important part of discipleship was reading and studying God’s Word. I had a plan, and I was resolved to stick to it.īut again and again, I failed. I would miss some days, sure, but then I would catch up and stay on track. This would be the year that I would finally read through the entire Bible.

I tucked it into my Bible with optimism and resolved that things would be different this time. Every year, at the end of December, I printed the checklist.

Bible study plan