Let me tell you a story about why I believe doing a 2 year Bible reading plan is better than doing a 1 year plan. Several years ago, I was working doing a video shoot in Ohio and I was on the road away from home. My business was overwhelmingly busy at the time and I was finding myself slipping spiritually. I knew I need something to help me stay on track and help me be more consistent when I was pulled from every direction. Little did I know that in the next couple of years I would be pulled from even more directions. As a result, I started looking for a Bible reading plan.
I had used a Bible reading plan many years ago when I first started reading the Bible and it helped me stay on track in general, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t keep to the 1 year time schedule. I had been diagnosed with a reading disability while in elementary school and I always struggled with reading. Since I was a slow reader to begin with, I knew I didn’t want a Bible reading plan that locked me into a tight timeline. As I searched around for a Bible reading plan, I realized that one of the reasons I hadn’t done a Bible reading plan in years is because I wanted to study what I was reading. I felt like plans weren’t helping me see the connections in the Bible and how the teaching fit within the historical context. So, when I looked for a Bible reading plan, I tried to find something that would help me study what I was reading. My search results were bleak at best.
Finding a whole Bible reading plan that wasn’t locked into one year, contained themes or cross-references, and had additional resources basically didn’t exist. I started talking to all my friends and all of them wanted a Bible reading plan like this too. This is how the Bible Study Together 2 Year Chronological Cross-Reference Bible Reading Plan got started. It took a couple of years to create this 2 year Bible Reading plan with its additional resources, but it has been like a set of guide rails that has helped to keep me on track through the birth of two more children, moving, incapacitating surgery, and countless ups and downs in life. If you can relate to my story, I encourage you to check out Bible Study Together’s 2 year Bible reading plan.
Rushing Ruins A Quiet Time
Nothing can destroy your time with God more than trying to rush through your daily reading. Most of us have a lot going on in life and if we just try to cram some God into it, the results won’t be pretty. I have watch people go on a cycle of moving at hundreds of miles and an hour through life until they have a crisis. God gets their attention and they slow down for a while. Then they start the death march again until God is just an afterthought. If we want to have a quality relationship with God, we need to take the time to build that relationship with Him. 2 year Bible reading plans allow you the opportunity to read the Bible without feeling rushed.
Pondering and Prayer are Essential
Doing a 2 year Bible reading plan makes the daily reading somewhere between 5 to 10 minutes a day. If you are giving yourself 20 minutes or more to spend specifically with God, you can re-read the whole text, look up additional cross-reference, read a commentary, or even journal about what you are reading/learning. To build a relationship with God you will need to do more than just read and doing a 2 year Bible reading plan can give you the opportunity to ponder and pray each day.
Getting Behind Makes People Quit
When you have 15 to 20 minutes of reading to do every day and you miss a week it can be the most discouraging thing to start back up on your Bible reading plan. It looks like a couple hour wall and as hard as you try it often just seems to grow as the year goes on. One year Bible reading plans have helped so many people read the Bible for the first time, but they also are the same reason for countless others stopping after a couple of months. A 2 year Bible reading plan has half the reading and even with the busiest schedules I have heard people tell me how easy it was for them to get caught up when behind. This relief of pressure makes reading the Bible way more edifying and people tend to get a lot more out of it.
Losing Context When Going Too Slow
If slowing down is good, it might seem like you should try a 3 or 4 year Bible reading plan. The only problem is that going too slowly makes what you are reading so little that you start to lose context. 2 year Bible reading plans are the sweet spot in terms of how much you can read each day to catch a full story or thought. When you read full stories or thoughts it keeps you from drawing the wrong conclusions about what the Bible is communicating.
Best Reading Plan Options
Though you might think I am biased to say that Bible Study Together’s 2 year Bible reading plan is the best (and you would be right), it is hard to deny what thousands of other people think about it. It was only a couple years ago since Bible Study Together launched and it has become the guide rails for countless other people’s daily quiet time. One of the best parts about it is all the resources available with it. Daily questions, printable study journals, mobile app, videos, and Bible maps are just a few of the many things that it has to offer. If you are looking for a 2 year Bible reading plan, look no further than Bible Study Together.
Start Your 2 Year Reading Plan
