A READING PLAN FOR 2024

MY BOOK SORTING JOURNEY

A stack of books overflowed my seating area. There were books stacked on the table next to my recliner. There were books stuck under the TV in the TV cabinet. Some more books under the bookshelves in the living room. Oh, and books in the drawers under the coffee bar. So many books accumulated in 2023. This morning and into the afternoon I gathered all of them and put them on the dining room table. I sorted them. I asked God what I should target first.

I already felt committed to a plan for 100 MORNINGS & EVENINGS, In His Presence, a guided journal for daily encounters with God, by Bill & Beni Johnson. I purchased a 300 page journal just for this 100 day journey. Others I know are engaged in this same strategy to encounter God in ways that I’ve never systematically done before.

Back to the stack of books on the dining table. After sorting them I now had a stack of reading that was a first priority for morning reading for the next 100 days. I had a stack for nighttime reading by my bed. Then in a row on the bookshelf, I pulled forward about an inch, a number of books as those that will be added to the daily reading pile as books are read and put back on the shelves. At least there is a plan.

A BIBLE READING PLAN

For daily Bible reading I’m going to follow a plan from Rev. James E. Laurence,  Pastor of First Lutheran Church of Albemarle. Rev. Laurence has a number of Bible reading plans in his blogs (I recommend him to you – https://mypastoralponderings.com). I’m sharing the following reading plan with you that I’m going to use for the first six months of 2024. Of course, I’m in many places in the Bible as I direct the Eagles Rest School of Ministry and as I preach/teach at the Duncan Correctional Facility in Diboll, Texas.

Here is Rev. Laurence’s explanation for this reading plan and the plan itself;

Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.PSALM 1:2

I developed my own Bible reading plan in 2021 because I could not find one that met all of my needs. I used this plan throughout 2021, adjusted here and there along the way, and shared it on this blog last December. You can find it here. But since then I have encouraged several people not to use it, but instead to try reading the New Testament first. Why? To use a running analogy, it’s a good idea to run a couple of 10Ks and a half-marathon before you decide to tackle a full marathon. 

With that in mind, here is the Bible reading plan that I recommend to people who are ready to read the New Testament all the way through. This plan incorporates several features that are helpful to me, just as my full Bible reading plan does. 

First, this plan is weekly, not daily, simply because that works better for me. With a weekly plan, I don’t get anxious when I fall behind. If I am too busy one day, I can simply make up for it the next, or even later in the week. On the other hand, if I am really enjoying my reading, I don’t feel the need to stop with that particular day’s passage.

Second, I wanted to keep the spirit of reading the New Testament straight through, but I also do not want to read all four Gospels before reading anything else. So, I have spread the Gospels out. After reading the Gospel of Matthew, we read Paul’s Letters to the Romans and the Corinthians before turning back to the Gospels, in this case, Mark. I also think it is helpful to read the Acts of the Apostles right after reading the Gospel of Luke, since it is written by the same author and is intended to be a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. 

Third, because I believe it is important to pray the Psalms daily, I have included Psalms to be read/prayed each week, even though they are not part of the New Testament. I typically have six psalms a week (one a day, with one to come back to and repeat). The exception, of course, is Psalm 119, which because of its length, I have given its own week. Reading/praying the psalms in this way leads one to pray the psalter straight through in six months. 

If you have not read the Bible in this way before (or even if you have), a resource that I would recommend is “How to Read the Bible Book by Book” by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. It offers an overview of each book, specific advice for reading each of the books, and then a walk through each book. It is great to have alongside your Bible as you read through the New Testament (or the entire Bible) book by book. 

So, with all of that in mind, here is my plan. (I will also include a pdf file of this plan for you to download, if you would like). 

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Week	N.T. Readings	Psalms	Completed
1	Matthew 1 – 11	Psalms 1-6
2	Matthew 12 – 20	Psalms 7-12
3	Matthew 21 – 28	Psalms 13-18
4	Romans 1 – 8	Psalms 19-24
5	Romans 9 – 16	Psalms 25-30
6	1 Corinthians	Psalms 31-36
7	2 Corinthians	Psalms 37-42
8	Mark 1 – 9	Psalms 43-48
9	Mark 10 – 16	Psalms 49-54
10	Galatians – Ephesians	Psalms 55-60
11	Philippians – Colossians	Psalms 61-66
12	1 and 2 Thessalonians	Psalms 67-72
13	1 Timothy – Philemon	Psalms 73-78
14	Luke 1 – 8	Psalms 79-84
15	Luke 9 – 16	Psalms 85-90
16	Luke 17 – 24	Psalms 91-96
17	Acts 1 – 9	Psalms 97-102
18	Acts 10 – 19	Psalms 103-108
19	Acts 20 – 28	Psalms 109-114
20	Hebrews	Psalms 115-118
21	James – 2 Peter	Psalm 119
22	John 1 – 10	Psalms 120-125
23	John 11 – 21	Psalms 126-131
24	1 John – Jude	Psalms 132-137
25	Revelation 1 – 11	Psalms 138-143
26	Revelation 12 – 22	Psalms 144-150