Reading the Bible

At Milestone, we are convinced of the truth, power and authority of the Word of God - the Bible. Our experience with the Bible has led us to trust and believe what it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

If that's true, then it makes sense that God's people ought to read the Bible regularly - and that we ought to read it all. And given the benefits it isn't that big a challenge: given a regular reading speed (or even using an audio Bible), around 15 minutes per day is all you need to read the whole Bible - every single verse - in a year!

Using Your Reading Plan

Reading the whole Bible is vital to the life and growth of our faith. Oddly, however, many Christians have never read the entire Bible – and one of the major reasons is method. The most natural approach is to start in Genesis and work your way through: this is a natural approach that has foiled many, many good intentions.

Genesis goes quite well, as does most of Exodus – but then you hit Leviticus, with lots of legal code and massively detailed advice on pitching tents. It can be hard work. If you sweat your way through Leviticus, you plough right into Numbers – with its heavy genealogies rolling on, one after another. Make it through Numbers and you're into Deuteronomy, and you're slogging through rituals and laws again. Now this is important stuff – but it is also very hard on the reader. This plan divides the Bible into three sections:

• History: The books from Genesis to Esther. These books tell the story of God's people, a grand, sweeping narrative which gives us a historical framework for understanding what God is doing in the world.
• Writings: From Job to the end of the Old Testament, this section takes in poetry, song, wisdom literature and prophecy. This is exciting and diverse material, which reveals a lot about God's character, and the nature of His creation – and His great plans for it.
• New Testament: From Matthew to Revelation, the New Testament tells the story of Jesus, the promised Saviour; how he was born, lived, died and rose again; how he will return – and in the meantime, what life is like for the Church, his gathered people.

In this reading plan, every day (except Sundays, which are free for your own reflection!) you get a reading from each of these three sections. The history reading is usually the longest, although the readings do vary in length somewhat to keep pieces of stories together. This way, every day has variety, excitement and profound grace, and the risky Leviticus-Numbers-Deuteronomy slog becomes a useful backdrop for the other parts of the Bible. You still read the whole Bible, and I trust that this approach will be a blessing!

As you read, remember that this isn't just about crossing the readings off the list. You're doing this to learn more about our God, more about the world we live in, more about our hope and our salvation in Jesus. Pray as you come to read - ask the Holy Spirit to open up the truth of God's word to you. And commit yourself to putting what you learn into practice - God is seeking to transform you through His word!