How To Eat Your Bible
Every October, I begin asking the question - “What will next year look like?” One of the key building blocks of the year is how to structure my Bible reading plan? Every year, I have had some deviation of a yearly Bible reading plan. However, what if the deviation needs to be not in the order of which we read but in the time in which it takes? Is there a better option than reading our entire Bible every year? Nate Pickowicz articulates that idea in his short volume called How To Eat Your Bible.
When we begin to ask honest questions about our Bible reading plans, two obstacles arise. First, many of us have grown discouraged in our yearly Bible reading plans. We miss a day or two; and suddenly, we have ten chapters to read! After the second or third time of that happening, we call it quits. If we manage to continue until Exodus 21, we may not continue much longer. As one professor told me, “Exodus 21 is the burial ground for most Bible reading plans.” After two or three years of consistent failure, we quit altogether.
Second, we read the most important book in the world at the rate of a teenager cramming for a midterm. We listen to sermons from a handful of verses for thirty minutes each Sunday, then we read a handful of chapters in less time. Growing up, I used to be a fast eater; and my mother would say, “Did you even taste that?” The Bible should not be treated like a hot dog eating contest; the Bible should be treated like a five star meal. Yes, we are covering much ground. Yes, we are engaging God’s Word. Yes, it is transforming us. But how much of it do we remember - much less understand? If we are aiming to live a life of long faithfulness, if we are to practice the “patient endurance” recorded in Revelation, how can our Bible reading plans better match our long term goals?
Herein steps How To Eat Your Bible. This book advocates a seven-year Bible reading plan where each month is dedicated to a particular book (Galatians, James, Ephesians) or a section (John 1-7, 8-15, 16-21). Instead of stretching the book to span 30 days, this book advocates reading that book or section thirty times in a single month. For shorter books such as Galatians, the average reading time is 22 minutes. If one reads the Bible in a year, a daily reading is about 15 minutes. The time commitment is marginal, but the benefit far exceeds the difference. By the end of the month, a practitioner of this plan would know the Epistle to the Galatians.
Regardless of one’s adoption of this Bible reading plan, it does provoke helpful reflection on our own practices. Some may want to explore Search the Scriptures which proposes a three-year plan with questions each day. For Raymond Presbyterian Church, our 2024 Bible Reading Plan will be a two-year endeavor so that we can reflect and ask questions each week. The aim of our Bible reading is not information, but transformation. Transformation is a lifelong endeavor, and our engagement with God’s Word needs to match that longevity. We cannot experience transformation if we are not reading, reflecting, praying, and engaging with the Word.
Along with Bible reading, How To Eat Your Bible does discuss reading, studying, meditating, praying, and applying the Scriptures. In a brisk 135 pages, the book serves as a helpful refresher before planning out the most important part of 2024 - how to engage God’s Word.
For those who are interested, your can buy How To Eat Your Bible here. Also, Searching the Scriptures can be found here. I would love to hear your feedback on your Bible Reading experiences and what has proved most helpful over the years. Stop in the office, and let’s talk God’s Word!
