I have so many conflicting feelings about the M'Cheyne reading plan. I know for many--for centuries--it has been THE plan. It was first published in 1842.
I would imagine plenty of people have used the plan without reading the original tract which lists the dangers and advantages of using a bible reading plan AND then continues to give specific directions on how to use his plan. I do encourage you to take the time to read the tract. This was my first time to do so. I have not used the plan with M'Cheyne's actual directions.
The M'Cheyne reading plan has you read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice. (One also reads through the book of Psalms twice). There are two readings for "family" devotions and two for "secret" devotions.
The Gospel Coalition article I read (published in 2019) shares that in 1837, M'Cheyne compiled a plan for reading the Bible in a month! Now THAT is the reading plan I'd dearly love to get my hands on!
My main issue with the original plan is that it is too slow or too drawn out. I read at a faster pace; feast at a faster pace. Whether "reading" or "feeding" on the Word of God, I don't want a tiny, dainty, delicate portion.
In 2020, I read through the Bible using the M'Cheyne reading plan and was able to stick with it because I combined it with reading through Matthew Henry's complete commentary. I'd read the Scripture and then the commentary. That worked, but I didn't love it enough to repeat it.
In 2023, I attempted to read through the Bible with the M'Cheyne reading plan again. This time using a Bible app. I found myself skimming lightly and not engaging. Whether it was because it was a digital bible OR because of my translation choice OR my vision issues, I gave it up in August.
In the fall of 2023 I fooled around with the idea of turning the YEAR-long plan into a 52 day reading plan. I spent a lot of time typing it up and doing math. The math was the worst part. (Well, maybe not. I apparently had typos as well. When I actually used the plan this spring, I circled so many corrections.)
What I liked: I really LOVED reading so many chapters at a time. It just makes for a much better reading experience to read in longer sections. For example, to read Genesis 1-7 in one sitting instead of one chapter at a time over seven days. It makes better SENSE when it comes to comprehension. It requires less effort. That could so easily be taken out of context. When you break up sections of Scripture into dainty, bite-size pieces AND mix sleep into it...you have to recall what you read the day before and the day before and the day before and the day before. You build momentum as well. I also appreciated reading from four different sections of Scripture. That works great.
What I didn't like: Because I was trying to group each week's reading into one day's readings, there were some unusual breaks. There would be no weirdness in the original plan, but it was introduced in the super-quick speed run. It also made less sense in the speed run to read through Psalms and the New Testament twice.
Would I repeat my super-quick-speed-run???? Probably not.
No comments:
Post a Comment