3 months ago, I told you about a crazy goal I set out to complete before my 30th birthday – read the entire Bible in 90 days. I am incredibly happy to report back that I did, indeed, complete this goal the very day before I turned 30. Some of you mentioned an interest in starting this Bible reading plan yourself, so I thought I’d answer a big question I had throughout this experience:
Would I do it again?
In a word? Maybe.
Clearly that’s no help.
Here’s what I mean:
Will I ever attempt to read through the Bible in 90 days again?
Yes. Yes, I think I will. But I don’t know that I’ll do it again while my children are so little.
What didn’t you like about it?
I’ll answer this question by telling you what I missed. I missed having time to study passages of Scripture in greater detail. Over the last couple years, I’ve begun studying Scripture in a different way than I ever had before, using the method outlined in Women of the Word. I had just recently begun a study on the book of Hebrews when I decided to begin this 90 day Bible reading challenge and it greatly pained me to set that Hebrews study aside for 3 months while I used my Bible study time to read through large portions of Scripture. There were quite a few times when I would read a passage and want to take more time to study it out, but NOPE – no time for that! Gotta get in 10 more chapters today!
So, was there anything you liked?
A lot, actually.
- I liked the goal itself. I never would have pushed myself to read the entire Bible in 90 days had I not agreed to this challenge.
- I greatly appreciated the need to read/listen to the Bible during most of my free time. It meant I didn’t have as much time to read and listen to other books and podcasts. While I missed that, I highly value the time I had to focus mainly on God’s Word.
- I loved getting a broad overview of Scripture. This was one of the greatest benefits to reading the Bible through in a relatively short amount of time. Whether you read the Bible through in a month or a year, it’s such a help to get an overview of Scripture in a way you simply cannot when doing in-depth book studies. It’s the difference between a plow and trowel study.
How about giving us a straight answer then… Would you participate in this goal again?
I definitely want to read the Bible through again. But there are 3 things I want to do differently next time:
- Look for an overarching theme while reading.
I discovered several themes while reading these past 3 months (most notably the necessity of trusting & obeying God’s Word), but I would like to trace a theme through Scripture next time. Such as the theme of the temple, the role of sacrifice, or God’s presence. This is something Kelly Collier mentioned in her Dwelling Richly interview.
2. Read through the Bible chronologically.
I’ve never done this before, but my sister just finished and mentioned how helpful and eye-opening it was to read through in a chronological manner. Like sister, like sister. Or something like that.
3. Read through the Bible while also studying a passage in more detail.
This may not make sense if you didn’t read this post on 2 Methods of Bible Study. Assuming you did, though, I want to participate in both a plow and trowel study at the same time. That might mean I take 4 days of the week for an in-depth trowel study and use Friday – Sunday as my broad plow study days. Or it might mean I use my morning Bible time for an in-depth study and read/listen to the Bible throughout the day. I’m not sure what it will look like exactly; I only know that I want to do both types of studies next time I read through the Bible so that I always have a piece of Scripture I’m meditating on and trying to figure out throughout the day.
What are you reading now?
I finished reading through the Bible on Saturday. Sunday morning, I decided to read through one of the passages that stuck out to me while listening through the Bible (specifically Colossians 2 & 3). I’m planning to take some time to study that passage before jumping back into the Hebrews study I began before this challenge. I also began memorizing 1 John several months ago, but set the memory work aside while completing this challenge. I’ve already started listening through the book again in an attempt to refresh my rickety brain of the verses it memorized earlier in 2016. I don’t know – maybe my brain will rebel now that it’s the ripe old age of 30. I’m sure repetition will do its work, albeit more slowly as the years continue to pass.
I trust this post will be helpful as you consider your own Bible study habits!
A while ago I shared some of my favorite resources for studying the Bible.
Here’s the list again in case you missed it last time!
