Want A Daily Reminder?

Here are three simple reasons why you should read the Bible every single day:

1. To Hear from God

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” This means that every time you open the Bible, you have the wonderful opportunity to consume the life-giving words of God himself.

2. To Experience Blessing

The Bible itself tells us that the path to blessing includes reading and thinking about and delighting in God’s Word every day (Ps. 1:2). Daily Bible reading is about much more than crossing an item off your checklist or completing a spiritual program. It is about experiencing the greatest blessing ever: knowing God and growing in your relationship with him.

3. To Know Jesus

Jesus tells us in Luke 24:44-47 that the whole Bible is about him and about the amazing news that he died for our sins and rose again so that through repentance and faith in him we can receive eternal life. The whole Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – is the story about how God has made a way for us to be redeemed through faith in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is good news that we need every day of our lives, in every circumstance of our lives, and in every area of our lives. There is no better way to regularly experience this good news and remind ourselves of it than through daily Bible reading.

Here are three simple ways you can get the most out of your Bible reading plan:

1. Approach the Bible Reverently (1 Thess. 2:13)

The Bible is the Word of God. It really is! If you want to hear the voice of God, all you have to do is open your Bible and start reading. As we approach the Bible to receive its teaching, it is important that we approach it with a reverence that reflects what we are reading – the words of the God of the universe to us!

2. Approach the Bible Dependently (1 Cor. 2:14)

It is important that we realize that we cannot truly understand the words of God revealed to us in Scripture without the help of the Holy Spirit. When we come the Bible, we need to do so with a posture of conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit to help us understand God’s Word and apply it to our hearts and lives.

3. Approach the Bible Actively (Jas. 1:22)

We cannot expect to remain unchanged when we devote ourselves to God’s Word. It isn’t like a novel that we read for entertainment and leisure. The Bible is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). When we come to the Bible, we must be ready to act upon its instruction as it acts upon our hearts.

Here are three simple ways to maintain consistency and vibrancy in your Bible reading throughout the year:

1. Set your schedule

Bible reading is a discipline. It is an infinitely valuable daily appointment with God. Your schedule should reflect the importance of this appointment. Ask yourself the question: When are you most likely to be attentive and responsive to God’s Word? Are you a morning person? Late night owl? Mid-afternoon warrior? Give the best time of your day to the disciplined reading of God’s Word. Hearing from God is the most important part of your day.

2. Set your expectations

You shouldn’t expect to experience a spiritual firework show every single time you open your Bible to read it. Instead, you should expect your time in God’s Word to fuel the flame of your faith and to help you cultivate a vibrant relationship with him. Every day, you should expect to meet with God and to hear his life-giving words.

3. Set a goal

One of the best ways to maintain vibrancy in your Bible reading is to set a goal for your time in the Word. The goal can be something very simple like, “Every day, I want to take one truth from my Bible reading and think about it throughout the day.” It could also be something like, “This year in my Bible reading, I’m going to pay special attention to all the ways to Bible describes who God is.” No matter what your goal is, you should ask God to reveal himself to you every single day: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

It is true that you should have a balance of Bible reading and Bible study. At First Baptist, our goal is to equip you with the resources that you need both to read the Bible for breadth and to study the Bible in depth.

We provide you with the First Baptist Bible Reading Plan to help you read through a broad portion of the Bible each year. The plan covers the whole New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, and each book of the Bible that we preach through in our services and teach through in Sunday School. By following the First Baptist Bible Reading Plan, you will read through a significant portion of the Bible each year!

We also provide you with our Bible Study Workbooks each semester to help you go deep in your Bible Study. These workbooks take you through an in-depth Bible Study on the book of the Bible that we are currently teaching in Sunday School. Each semester, you can pick up a workbook for $6 at First Coffee or you can access it for free online click here. 

Here are a couple suggested rhythms for how you can use these resources to balance Bible reading and Bible Study:

• Complete your Bible reading plan on Monday – Friday. Set aside Saturday for deep study by completing the whole Bible Study Workbook section for that week.
• Each day of the week, complete your Bible reading plan and do a small portion of that week’s Bible Study Workbook section, so that you are reading and studying every day.

1. The Old Testament books that will be taught in Sunday School, namely Ruth, Esther, and Ecclesiastes.
2. The rest of the OT wisdom literature: Job, Proverbs, and Song of Songs.
3. Two major OT prophets: Ezekiel and Jeremiah, along with Lamentations. So, nine OT books all together.