So I’ve been reading through the New Testament in a month, using You Version’s New Thru 30 plan. At the beginning of the venture I expressed my disdain for Bible reading plans.
So here is the update. I finished! OK, my New Thru 30 was more of a New Thru 31, but I can still say I did it in a month, so I’m satisfied.
How was it, you ask? Well, it about killed me. I started out with glowing enthusiasm. That was when they had me reading between 8 and 12 chapters a day. And then one day it was 25 chapters. TWENTY-FIVE, friends! That’s a lot of reading. Those weekends for catch-up became vital to my existence.
And then I missed a day.
After that it was just brutal. But I finished! I finished.
Do I regret doing the plan? Not a bit. I mean, I read the New Testament through in a month, which has never been done in the history of me. And the Word is amazing. And I discovered that I really liked checking off on my iPhone as I read the chapters. It guilted me into reading when I didn’t want to and made me feel like a million bucks when I did it.
So this is what I picked up in my whirlwind tour of the NT:
• Jesus is good. Oh so good, with a a goodness that leaves me speechless and undone.
• The Kingdom of God is simple and epic all at the same time. And we American Christians barely have a clue what it’s all about. But I’m going to try to figure it out, if it’s the last thing I do.
And here’s the crazy part… even though I almost died doing my first Bible reading plan (believe me, it was a close call!), I’ve already got my next one picked out to start tomorrow!
It’s the Historical Plan, where you read the Old Testament through the way Jewish people would have back in the day, and the New Testament in the order it was written. Sounds fun!
Just to up the ante, I plan to read it through by the end of the year, even though I’m a month behind. I can catch up! After all, most days it only has me read 3 chapters a day. After 25 at a time, this will be a walk in the park!
And… here’s my nifty badge that You Version gave me for finishing New Thru 30. Aren’t you jealous?!