Three Steps to Reading Your Bible Every Day

Earlier this year Lifeway Research polled two thousand Americans who read their Bible at least monthly and found that on average they personally own three or four copies of Holy Scripture. But when it comes to reading any of those copies, the vast majority of respondents said they do not read the Bible every day. Unless they are housing an original Gutenberg Bible, what good is it to have so many Bibles lying around? My guess is they like the idea of reading their Bibles, but life somehow gets in the way.
Let me tell you a secret. I struggle reading the Bible every day too, and I own quite a few copies: hard copies, electronic copies, audio-book copies, you name it. With so many of us toting around so many copies of the Bible, why is it so hard to read it every day? The main reasons are lack of planning, lack of routine, and lack of focus.
Step One: Use a Realistic Plan
Get a version that is not difficult to read. If you can read English, and since you are reading this blog you probably can, then you are in luck. There are dozens of readable English translations of the Bible, including the NIV, ESV, NLT, and NET. If you prefer using an ebook reader or reading from your computer screen, you can access any of these translations for free through downloading a free Bible app or by visiting http://www.biblegateway.com.
Once you have a readable version you then need a plan for how much or how little to read at a time. Somehow, reading the Bible cover to cover in one year has become an ideal for Christians in America, and I think this lofty ideal is one reason why so few Christians read the Bible daily. It is rarely wise to jump from not doing something hardly at all to doing that same thing strenuously. You. Will. Burn. Out. Fast. Just as people set unrealistic fitness goals at the start of each new year, only to abandon them by mid-January, people do the same with their biblical reading. Feeling guilty for not being a “good enough” Christian, people often decide not to bother reading the Bible at all. That’s a shame, considering God never commands us to read through the Bible once a year.
God commands us plenty of times to treasure Scripture and value it. The purpose of reading Scripture is to savor God’s scrumptious and nutritious food for your soul bite by bite. Think quality, not quantity. Just like a couch to 5K marathon program prepares you for your long run by getting you used to shorter runs at the beginning, why not start reading Scripture by reading through one short New Testament book all the way through? Jude, Philemon, and 3 John are the shortest ones. Read through your chosen book tomorrow. Read through it again the next day. Read through it again each day for a week. While reading it, mark sentences that stick out and follow-up on them after your week is over to see if they now make better sense.
Once you’ve read a few New Testament books this way, pick a Gospel in the New Testament and read through it one chapter a day until you’ve read it all the way through. Next, read the same Gospel again. This time jot brief notes about passages that were memorable. Highlight passages that hold promises and take a full minute to focus on that single sentence or phrase. Meditate on small bits of God’s Word. Pray them out loud. Write them out and put them on your computer. Tape them on your bathroom mirror. Share them with your children before they go to school and after they return. Tell your spouse about them (cf. Deut 6:6-9). Once you have read through a Gospel a few times, pick one of the longer New Testament letters and follow suit.
Once you’ve successfully handled some New Testament books, add one Psalm to each of your reading sessions. Read that same Psalm over and over again for at least a week. Some Psalms, like Psalm 119, are lengthy, so break them up into smaller chunks for daily reading.
Never worry about how much of the Bible you are reading in a month or even a year. Instead, focus on what God is telling you; taste that he is good; praise him that his word endures forever.
Without a realistic plan in place, you will set yourself up for failure when it comes to reading Scripture.
Step Two: Set a Workable Routine
A plan is worthless unless you implement it. Some of us are morning people, while others are night owls. The good news for both groups is that there is no holiest time to read Scripture during your day. I know you morning people are already thinking about advantages of reading the Bible in the morning, and you go right ahead. There areadvantages to reading the Bible and praying in the morning. But there are also advantages in reading the Bible and praying in the evening, especially if it enables you to do it together with someone or allows you to have more time to do it. 
Remember, there is no advantage to abandoning your Bible reading altogether. Make it a pre-determined decision that there is a part of each day set aside for prayer and Bible reading. Do not deliberate whether or not you will do it tomorrow on the day before. Instead, commit to doing it, and do not leave the matter up to a decision. (Some bonus advice, this method works well for church attendance too. Don’t leave it up for deliberation every Saturday night if and where you will go to church the next day. Commit to going and don’t sabotage it with poor behavior the night before or a busy schedule the next day.)
You need not block off hours for Bible reading in your day, just consider having your Bible as your companion with your morning coffee instead of the local television news or Web browsing. Likewise, in the evening consider having your Bible as your companion in the half-hour before bedtime instead of the local television news, late-night talk shows, or Web browsing. We are not talking about seismic shifts in your daily schedule.
It all comes down to what you value, and nobody likes to think in those terms. We make time in our daily schedules for things we crave and things we value. Too often people feel bad that they do not give hours of the day to spiritual disciplines, so they end up giving zero minutes of their day instead. Do not make what is perfect become the enemy of what is good. Work something sustainable into your daily routine like Bible-reading and prayer for just 20-30 minutes. That is the length of one sitcom or daytime judge show.
Whatever routine you settle on be flexible with it. If you have a busy morning, shift your quiet time to the evening and vice versa. If you have a day on the road that bumps you out of your normal routine, don’t sweat it. Just go back to your normal routine when you return. If you follow the Bible-reading plan above you need not worry about “catching up” daily readings that you will miss here and there. Likewise, if prayer comes hard to you, pray the Psalm you are reading. You can also start reading prayers of others like Spurgeon’s daily devotional reading, Morning and Evening, and pattern your prayers after them.
Step Three: Don’t Sabotage Your Focus
Technology puts constant noise in our lives. Noise not only comes from the ever-running televisions or radios in the backgrounds at work or at home, it also comes by way of ubiquitous electronic screens, phones, games, toys, that are always available to stimulate us. Our culture has in a way rewired our brains to where we expect to read only things that are brief. This blog post is already way too long, right? You might have even scrolled through it first to determine if it was worthy enough of a few minutes of your time before you moved on to the next thing.
In contrast, the Bible is an ancient book that requires focus. Don’t sabotage the time you set aside to read it by having your phone handy and noise all around. Shut your phone off; the world will still be okay after you turn it back on. Find a space in your house that is quiet. Take some deep breaths and stretch a little before reading and prayer.
You may need to re-read sentences and paragraphs to figure out what biblical authors are saying. You may also need to become familiar with tools to help you understand passages. Study Bibles are good helps. Books about how best to read the Bible, like Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, are easy to read and full of great information.
There is no shortage of resources to aid you to understand and savor Scripture, but your most valuable resource is your local church. If your church offers regular opportunities to join brothers and sisters in small-group or Sunday School/Adult Bible Fellowship settings to look at Scripture together, you would be foolish for staying at home while they meet. Likewise, your church leaders would check their pulses or suspect a practical joke was being played on them if people actually approached them for advice on how to read and study Scripture.
With all of these resources surrounding you, what is keeping you back from making 2013 the year you finally develop the discipline of reading your Bible? Start with a plan, set a routine, and don’t sabotage your focus.
“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” – James 1:21 (NIV)