With the turn of the calendar page to 2015, it has been time for me to choose a new Bible reading plan.  For this season, I’ve customized a chronological plan from Blue Letter Bible, and shared it below.

For a number of years, our church‘s Pastor Mark Slomka led our congregation to use the Life Journal prepared by Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii.  It began a wonderful, life-giving practice.

The Life Journal introduced me to not just reading the Bible, but also journaling about what the Holy Spirit would stir in me from the daily passage in the manner described here.  This was a new discipline I resisted at first, but now find indispensable.

Cordeiro’s Life Journal included a reading plan that covered the Bible in one year.  One of the benefits of this plan was the segments were arranged chronologically.  I found reading passages related and organized by historical context to be helpful and a source of insight.  This was particularly true in the pre-exile and exile periods, where so much of the historical and prophetic writings overlap.  The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself.

The Life Journal was a wonderful tool for a number of years.  I still mostly use the Life Journaling method.  But I found the quantity of scripture in each daily reading a bit much to keep up with.  Apparently I was not alone.  Several years ago  Pastor Slomka began providing an alternate yearly reading plan that covered most of the Bible with what was for me a more manageable quantity.  This has also been very beneficial.

Having covered this plan for several years, it seems time for something new.  My objectives are:

• A plan that covers the entire Bible, chronologically
• Segments that each include passages from the Jewish Bible (aka Old Testament), Christian New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs
• A plan that is not directly tied to a particular time frame such as one year, but may be covered in a longer period

I have adopted the chronological plan from the Blue Letter Bible.  I have modified it to meet the objectives stated above  My modified plan can be downloaded as a pdf here (Bible Reading Plan) and is also printed below. 

I recognize that for my Roman Catholic friends, there are additional books from the Catholic Bible you may want to add, and I invite your modifications and suggestions.

I do not expect to complete one segment per day.  In fact, if I attempted that pace I would probably not spend enough time in each passage.  I expect it will take at least two years or more to go through the whole plan.  The pacing is not what is most important.  Being fed and transformed is.

From however you are being fed and nourished from scripture, I look forward to hearing from you as you sojourn and journal with me.

Peace.