To cherish the Bible for the treasure it truly is, you must begin by reading it—consistently, purposefully, and prayerfully. A.W. Tozer once said, “the Bible was written in tears, and to tears it yields its best treasures.” With that in mind, I want to challenge you as the New Year approaches to read through God’s Word in 2019. Here’s how you get started:

1) Get motivated

For some, reading through the entire Bible may not be appealing, and perhaps unattainable due to schedule demands. Moreover, there are other Bible reading plans that do not take you through the entire Bible. However, I heartily encourage you to take the challenge and read it through. Here’s why:

All Scripture is Inspired by God

If God has inspired all scripture to be written down and passed onto us, then it is a message He means for us to read in its entirety. The Apostle Paul wrote that the Old Testament was “written for our learning, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) Tozer also said, “Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” Moreover, as a Christian, it strengthens your credibility as a witness to know you’ve read the Bible from cover to cover.

New Discoveries Await

The Word of God is perennially fresh because it’s the only book where the author is present with you as you read. The Holy Spirit will show you things you’ve never seen before every time you read it. For example, recently as I was reading through the book of Job (which I’ve read many times), I was suddenly struck by the stinging words of his friends, and how painful it must have been for him to hear them. Even though I had read Job before, I gained a deeper appreciation for his steadfast faith and perseverance.

No one was perhaps more familiar with the Bible than the late Rev. Billy Graham. Every day he read five Psalms, covering the psalter in a month, and one chapter of Proverbs. He read through a Gospel each week and constantly returned to the Acts of the Apostles. And yet, he said, the Bible continually brought fresh insights: “Sometimes His Word makes such an impact on me that I have to put the Bible down and walk around for a few moments to catch my breath."

2) Pick a plan to help you stay on track

Many free Bible reading plans are out there to help you stay the course. Many Bible apps (e.g., YouVersion’s Bible app, Olive Tree, Logos) offer a ton of reading plans you can follow and make it easy to adjust the schedule if you happen to miss a day. Here are a few plans that I recommend:

Five-Day Plan. I used this plan in 2018 and plan to do again in 2019. Just go to www.bibleclassmaterial.com to download the new 2019 schedule (which can be printed on a single page and makes it easy to fold and keep in your Bible). There are two major benefits of this plan:

• First, you only read five days out of the week. So, if you miss a day, it can easily be made up. I like this feature because it sets the weekend apart and gives me Saturdays and Sundays free for ministry.

• This plan takes you through the Bible chronologically, giving you a much better sense of the overall narrative.

For the Love of God.This is a daily devotional written by D.A. Carson that follows the Bible-reading schedule of 19th century pastor Robert Murray McCheyne (which you can get on number of Bible apps for free, e.g., YouVersion’s Bible app, Olive Tree, Logos). In McCheyne’s schedule, you read four passages each day: Two from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one from either the Psalms or the Gospels.

Dr. Carson’s book can be purchased on Amazon and serves as a short devotional commentary on the day’s readings. Carson has published two volumes (one per year), which can make your Bible reading for the next two years enjoyable and meaningful. I call this plan the Bible student’s plan because you learn so much from the daily commentary. If you are serious about wanting to learn more about God, the Bible, and the Christian life, this is the plan for you in 2019.

Discipleship Journal. This Navigators’ plan schedules readings for 25 days a month, which allows for catching up if you fall behind. This plan also provides readings from four different passages each day, providing a greater variety of content. You can download and print this plan (along with others) at the Navigators web site.

3) Make it a daily priority

If you claim you don’t have the time to read through the Bible in a year, I challenge you to take an honest look at how you spend the 8,760 hours per year God gives you. Can you not prioritize 90 of those hours (about 15 minutes a day) to spend reading through His Word? That’s about 1% of your time.

Compare that to your time in front of the television, social media, or commuting. I’m not trying to guilt you into anything, but how you spend your time in an indication of what your heart truly thinks is important.

With Bible apps, its easier than ever to read (or listen) to the Bible on your commute or while waiting in line. Try reallocating 15 minutes of your day to read the Bible. Make a commitment today to get into the Word so that the Word can get into you. May it be a lamp for your feet and a light for your path in 2019.

4) Tell me about it

Once you’ve finsished steps 1 to 3 above, let me know what plan you will pursue in 2019 by posting a comment on your Facebook or Twitter feed and include the hashtag #pastorandrews. Anyone who does this will be entered in a drawing to win Kindle editions of For the Love of God by D.A. Carson.