Have you ever thought about reading the whole Bible in a year? Maybe you have considered doing this but it seems like an impossible goal that you don’t think you could ever achieve?

Would it surprise you though to hear that if you read your Bible for 15-20 minutes each day then you would read the whole Bible in 2012? That is less time than an episode of Eastenders or Coronation Street! When you look at it like that it’s not such an impossible task and maybe you could achieve the goal of reading the whole Bible in 2012.

How do you start then as there are many different ways of reading through the Bible in a year? I personally would recommend reading the Bible chronologically and have myself used the Cover to Cover Through the Bible As It Happened reading plan which is produced by CWR.

The advantage of reading the Bible chronologically is that it enhances our understanding of the historical context of the individual books of the Bible. So the reader can see for example how books like Ezra, Hosea, Amos and Nahum fit into the history of God’s dealings with his people and helps us realise how every book in the Bible is important.

Why not make 2012 the year in which you read the whole Bible chronologically?

The following Bible reading quotes from KJV-Asia hopefully will challenge and inspire you:

Moody testifies, “One week I read Ephesians 93 TIMES THROUGH (13 times daily for a week) and on Sunday preached without notes under the strongest anointing I ever felt in a single service in my life.”

Dr. Gray longed for many years to be filled with the Word of God, but failed to see the way.  One day at a conference he met a layman overflowing in the power of the Word and asked him, “How did this happen to you?”  The layman answered “BY READING BOOKS OF THE BIBLE OVER AND OVER.”  The great preacher was humbled by learning a lesson from a layman he had never discovered in his own ministry.  Note the power in reading a whole book of the Bible!

George Muller read the bible through every 90 days (3 months) or 4 times a year for 25 years, and said, “I am a happy, happy, happy man.”  In his writings he tells of some problems that came up in early morning prayer hours.  He decided TO READ THE BIBLE FIRST each day – his regular prayer time followed and the problems vanished!

Ravenhill, in his book “Meat For Men” tells of Dr. Sung who was placed in the state hospital in White Plaines, New York.  He requested a Bible AND READ IT THROUGH 40 TIMES IN 6 MONTHS, and received a working knowledge of all 1189 chapters in the Bible – EVERY 4-1/2 DAYS FOR HALF A YEAR.  He was dismissed, completely recovered, from the hospital!

Campbell Morgan told an audience the entire Bible could be read through in 80 hours at the SLOW READING RATE pastors use in the pulpit.  A lawyer challenged him, admitting that he had never read the Bible through.  Morgan told him to read the Bible through before presenting a public challenge.  The lawyer read the Bible through IN LESS THAN 80 HOURS!

Our vicar included the following in one of his sermon a few weeks ago:

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our mobile phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

Oh, and two more things.
You never have to worry about the battery dying, it has eternal life.

And unlike our mobile  phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because GOD already paid the  bill.

It is now almost one week after the predicted end of the world by Harold Camping did not happen. So what can we learn from this failed prediction that will prepare us for the next time someone does something similar?

I think we can learn a lesson from the Bereans in Acts 17:10-14. The Bible tells us when Paul visited and preached to them they received his message with great eagerness. However they then examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true.

I believe that if we made this a regular habit then we would be less lightly to be misled by words that might sound fine but are not backed up by Scripture.