My youngest got off the treadmill, our pretend yard, and blurted out “Mommy, I love how the new song on the books of the bible ends.” And melodiously shared her discovery ‘There are 66 books in the bible, and o-n-e STORY.’ “
Have we read all 66 books of the Bible to get a complete picture of the one story? Or, are we content bungee-jumping over Leviticus, and taking a year-long dive in Psalms and Proverbs?
I know it’s difficult to find t-shirt worthy verses among all the slaughtered-bloody-animal-sacrifice passages in one book over the praise-songs-wisdom-giving verses of the latter. Hence, we give ourselves plausible excuses to skip-read the Bible, like my kids do with books they don’t care for.
Why wouldn’t we focus on feel-good passages compared to the stomach-churning ones? Maybe you feel the same way like my oldest as we read Leviticus “Mommy, this verse makes me nauseous.” And rightfully so, if you’re not cut out to be a butcher, or a surgeon. But, oh the fun we’re having reading and digging this rich book. (My kids may not end up being Harvard grads, but if I can inspire them to love the entire Bible and its author to bits, my heart will leap with gladness.)
I heard my father challenge his congregation once “You can’t claim to be a mature Christian, and not have read the Scriptures at least once from cover to cover. Although we should do it regularly.”
David Mathis, an American pastor and author gives us a great visual on the two types of Bible readings each Christian should be practicing regularly: Raking versus Digging.
Raking is reading from cover to cover to figure out the landscape of the entire Bible. Just as we do on a field: we rake out the leaves, the junk, the giant boulders, anything at the surface to figure out the layout of the land.
“Think of your Bible reading as a regular surveying of the biblical landscape [raking] to find a spot to settle down for a few moments to meditate [digging]…” Habits Of Grace, David Mathis
I like to call the ‘Raking’ process, our spiritual cardio. Reading the Bible cover-to-cover is less intense; but done with consistency, it will protect the overall health of the entire body (our overall theology).
Here are some options for raking the entire Bible from cover-to-cover (C2C):
- One Year Classic (reading simultaneously OT and NT)
- 3 Year Reading Plan (one chapter a day)
- Chronological Reading Plan (it will bounce you from Genesis to Job and back… )
- Book Reading (one book at a time, at your own pace)
How long would it take us to read the entire Bible?
According to resource www.euxton.com:
- 70 hours and 40 minutes to read the Bible through “at pulpit rate”.
- 52 hours and 20 minutes to read the Old Testament
- 18 hours and 20 minutes to read the New Testament
- 4 hours and 28 minutes – Psalms, the longest book in the Bible
- 12 minutes a day, read the Bible through in a year
- 48 minutes a day, read the Bible 4 times a year
What if you tried one of the following challenges to read the entire Bible again, and again, and again. It will bring refreshing insights each time. A ripped-off bandaid never sticks good the second time. Not the same with the Bible. The more you use it, the stronger its adhesive gets, and sticks to us in new-healing ways.
I asked my husband what he was up to today, as he was heading in the next room. His eyes locked into mine and said, “I’m making a plan of how I can maximize my time during the remainder of the quarantine.” What an inspiring attitude.
How can you maximize your time in this season? What would take for you to commit to a consistent cover-to-cover Bible reading plan?
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4 NIV
*If you’d like a pdf. file of the C2C Dare, let me know. I will send it to you right-away.