If you are a follower of Christ, hopefully you’re asking, “How will I grow in my faith in the New Year?” Intentionality is the friend of spiritual growth. A goal of mine is to read the Bible through each year. 10-20 minutes of reading each day will get you there. If you’re a believer, reading the Bible through is a must to give you the big picture perspective of the faith and of the book that is our guide for spiritual growth.

A few tips and tricks from my journey:

• I love using technology in Bible Reading. Youversion.com or the Bible App is my go to partner in faith development. Makes it easy to track, share, and be creative with images, etc. Also has a large variety of plans for every persons interest and needs.
• Last year, I used the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan which gives you 5 days off each month. Would be a good plan for busy people because of the 5 days of grace.
• I finished the plan early enough to get in the 40 Days through the New Testament Challenge here at the end of the year. Very challenging. 7-8 chapters each day. I’m a slow reader, and I like to highlight and journal through what I’m reading, so some of these readings took me all day! Very good challenge to take though as I am more convinced than ever that there is nothing more hope filled than the message of the New Testament.
• I’ll probably go back with the One Year Bible Reading Plan this year. I’ve finished it 3 or 4 times. It takes you through the entire Bible and the book of Psalms twice. Psalms everyday is good when your reading is in some of the meatier sections of the Bible.
• How do you make it through the meatier sections of the Bible? I like to use a Bible Handbook when I’m reading through hard to understand sections like the Major Prophets. My favorite is How to Read the Bible Book by Book. Pick up any Bible Handbook as a helpful read along through the Bible.
• “But I don’t always have time to read during the day.” Same here. At least once per week, I leave my house at 4:30am or so. This doesn’t allow me time to get my reading in. So, I use the Bible Apps audio feature and listen through my planned reading for that day. I’ve found balancing listening and reading to the Bible helpful. Most of the Bible was written to be read aloud by others. It helps bring some passages alive to hear it read out loud. Try it.

Get some of my other tips and tricks for devotional life HERE. And let’s connect on the Bible App to encourage one another this year.

If you’re new to Bible Reading, check out our little booklet How to Get a Grip on the Bible to get started.