At the start of every year, millions of Christians around the globe set new goals and resolutions for the new year. One goal common to everyone’s list is reading the entire Bible in a year. I set this goal for the first time in 2017.
It was a year after I became a Christian, and I was hungry for God’s Word. In His providence, I discovered a Bible reading plan that broke down the Bible into small daily readings. The reading plan immensely helped me read through the Bible, but afterward, I decided never to use a reading plan again.
There are a few reasons for this. First, the pace is relentless. Most reading plans schedule daily readings with no make-up days. So when you miss a day or two, it is hard to catch up. Sure, we can just pick up where we stopped and follow the plan instead of making up for the missed days. But then the plan is off, the days don’t match, and it bothers me.
Second, the readings are too rigid. Reading plans are precise with the number of chapters to read per day, and some days I want to read more or less, and I can’t do that without messing up the plan. I know I can read as much as I want to, but I apparently have an OCD that turns me into a strict rule follower.
Last, I didn’t enjoy checking a schedule every day before reading my Bible. It felt like a chore or a task on my to-do list. Furthermore, I kept losing the plan and was annoyed that I depended on it to read my Bible.
So in 2019, I opted out of reading plans and just read through the Bible at whatever pace I wanted. But without a deadline or a schedule, I got a bit too lax about my reading, and it took me nearly two years to finish my second read-through. Since I read the Bible cover to cover for familiarity rather than in-depth study, I didn’t want to go at such a slow pace. So in 2021, I gave reading plans another try.
I searched Ligonier’s collection of reading plans and found a reading plan so awesome it is like they made it for me. It is the Legacy Reading Plan.
The Legacy reading plan
The Legacy Reading Plan is a Bible reading plan that takes you through all 66 books of the Bible, one book at a time over a year. Unlike other reading plans, this plan does not have set daily readings but monthly books. So with this plan, you will process entire books of the Bible instead of bits from various books at once. The only exceptions are the Psalms and Proverbs. You will read and meditate on three Psalms per week and read one chapter of Proverbs per day.
The overarching goal of the Legacy Reading Plan is to read through the Bible every year for the rest of your life. Therefore, the plan is broken down according to the seasons and months of the year.
From the creators, “The reading calendar is naturally segmented into seasons and the seasons into months. At the beginning of each year, you know that during the winter, your focus will be on the Pentateuch and Poetry (249 chapters); in spring, the Historical books (249 chapters); in summer, the Prophets (250 chapters); and during the fall, the New Testament (260 chapter). Each season is further broken down into months. Thus every January, your goal is to read through Genesis and Exodus and every December the Synoptic Gospels and Acts.”
You can find more information about the Legacy Reading Plan and the PDF here.
Why I love this plan
1. It is a chronological book-by-book plan.
My favorite way to read the Bible is one book at a time, from Genesis to Revelation (except Psalms and Proverbs). I have never been a fan of reading plans that make you read the OT and NT simultaneously.
2. It makes my Bible reading more natural
Without set daily readings, I can read the Bible like I normally read other literature—until I am tired or out of time. Using reading plans with a set amount of chapters per day is too mechanical, and often, the chapters stop at odd points in the story.
3. It is super flexible
I love having the flexibility of reading as much as I want every day. Some days I can read ten chapters; other days, three and still be on schedule. Best of all, I don’t feel stressed when I miss a day.
4. Plan is easily memorable
I don’t have to carry a long detailed reading plan with me; I always know what to read depending on the season or month of the year.
5. Books are grouped by genre and author
In the Legacy Reading Plan, books are grouped by genre and authors. For instance, John’s epistles are in October, the synoptic gospel plus Acts are in December (so we can read the life and ministry of Jesus during Advent), etc.
I just love how the Legacy Reading plan takes care of all my benign issues with reading plans. This year I will use it to read through the Spurgeon Study Bible (I like to do my yearly reading in study Bibles and read the notes for more understanding since I read it at a fast pace). But I will tweak the OT schedule to make it more chronological. So instead of “Hebrew History” and “Hebrew Prophets” in Spring and Summer, I will have “History and prophets pre-exile” and “History and Prophets exile and post-exile.” The books of the months remain by genre.
I am looking forward to using this reading plan this year, and I hope it will indeed help me read the Bible every year for the rest of my life.
If this plan interests you, you can get the pdf plan here. If not, you can find other reading plans on Ligonier’s annual roundup. Remember, what matters is not finding the perfect plan but reading the perfect book.
