On Tuesday, I reviewed Jonathan Gibson's Be Thou My Vision. If I gave the impression that I wouldn't recommend it, then I didn't do a great job. Oops. The truth is, I found it a thousand times better than your average, ordinary, typical, traditional devotional book. It was practical, substantive, encouraging. The kind of book that gives you the tools you need to strengthen, deepen, grow your faith. (If you read with heart-mind-body-soul engaged and with a prayerful, teachable heart. Perhaps not if you read it mindlessly or carelessly.)
The book's biggest flaw (flaw in my humble, subjective opinion) may be turned into the book's biggest strength. So what is the flaw that I see??? They include the M'Cheyne daily plan, but, instead of saying this plan has four readings a day. Following this plan will take you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice, they (weakly) suggest reading one chapter per day. But here's the thing, it is an appendix. One of many. You don't have to use it. There I said it. You could substitute ANY reading plan for ANY reading style. The possibilities are endless.
Here's a novel thought--perhaps--do Be Thou My Vision morning AND night (same day's reading). Use either the same translation both times OR read different translations. For example, if your morning's reading was John 3, read John 3 in the evening as well. Same translation or different translation. I have found that the Word of God always speaks--or refreshes. Plus, so much of what we do is in one ear and out the other. We have very short-term memories. We are called to meditate on the Word. And I think this could lead to that.
Read through the Psalms monthly. Perhaps using Donald Whitney's Praying the Bible as your guide/resource/teacher. He would have you skim through five psalms a day--there's no reason you couldn't actually read-read them--and then pick one each day to PRAY through.
MacArthur's 30 Day Reading Program. Use the Be Thou My Vision's structure, but, every month choose a new section or chunk from Scripture to read. Many New Testament books can be read as a whole--James, Galatians, 1 John, etc. Larger books can be broken into sections. Matthew 1-4, John 14-17, etc. You could really DIG deep.
Some Bibles--though not all Bibles--have a reading plan in the back of the Bible. Some like the Student Bible, have multiple plans. (Though not all plans in the Student Bible take you through every word of Scripture.)
Daily Office. Use the lectionary calendar for the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer.
Bible in 90 Days. This is a plan that has been around for over a decade--at least. Chances are you've heard of it. But it's also one you might not have done because it's intimidating. I have made some alterations to the plan myself. But just search for the plan and you'll find lots of information. Here is the link to my "fixed" plan.
You might also be courageous enough to do the Power 60 Bible Reading Plan. (Link to the pdf file)
The good news is that you can read AS MUCH or AS LITTLE as you want. Find what works for you.
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