As my grandmother Revelle used to say, “I’m tickled to death,” that so many of you are interested in reading the Bible Chronologically! You will LOVE IT!!!
Please know that today’s post is not meant to dictate your quiet time. I simply want to share with you a few tips and traps to avoid when reading Chronologically.
Tip #1: BE CAREFUL of having the mindset of “reading the Bible through in a year.” If this is your mindset, I’m concerned that you will miss many messages the Lord may be trying to get through to you.
I started reading my Chronological Bible in May of 2011. MAYBE by the end of this year, I could say that “I’ve read the whole Bible.” But keep in mind, having read the whole Bible does not impress the Lord. He’s far more concerned about the everyday life application of what we’ve learned. This is what gets His attention!
Tip #2: Aim to read the whole day’s reading. But read slowly and methodically with your circumstances in mind. If you get too far behind (last year, I was 2 months behind at one point), don’t fret. I’ll often jump forward when I go a day or two and nothing has seemed to jump out at me.
Tip #3: Get a notebook or a Journal and record what jumps out at you each day…
This is an example of what I’m talking about it. Notice that I was led to highlight key words that jumped out at me today. God was speaking to me through this text today. Please note: There are other days, that I take pages of notes. Today was quite short because my time was shorter today.
By the way: I’m now 3-4 days “behind.” But God is speaking!
Tip #4: The Prophets, Psalms and Proverbs – All are good – so good. But I’m sorry, I can’t read 5 Proverbs or 10 Psalms at a time and retain what I’m reading.
So throughout the year, I’ll attempt to read a Proverb a day. And I often begin my quiet time in the Psalms. (They are very uplifting.) So when I get to this point in the Chronological Bible – I personally skip forward.
The Minor Prophets are a challenge as well for me. (Sometimes Major ones too!) To help me in this area, I’ve been using other study Bible translations to gain further understanding when something grabs my interest or when I’m just plain clueless.
But please note: If I’m bored because I don’t get it and I can’t understand it – and I’m sick of the doom and gloom – I start reading New Testament. Specifically a Gospel.
