My Plan for 2021
Here we are, on the brink of a new year. 2020 was a tough year - for pretty much the entire world. I know most of us are ready to kiss this year good-bye and to welcome a new year.
But I have a newsflash for you… Friday, January 1, 2021, isn’t going to magically bring an end to the trials we are experiencing today. In reality, January 1st is just like the beginning of any new month. Much of what is happening and how we feel today will still be here on Friday morning.
Now, before you begin to accuse me of being a “Debbie Downer” let me remind you of this. The same God who is in control of the happenings of today is the same God who will be in control on January 1st. And January 2nd. And the 3rd. The same God who created anything and everything is still in control today. So as we look ahead to the new year, we can know that, while things aren’t going to change overnight, we can be excited to see what God is going to do in the coming year!
Speaking of looking ahead to the new year, many of us are probably making plans on what we want to do differently - how we want to change and improve our lives. These improvements can come by way of how we schedule our time, how and what we eat, how we take care of our health, what or who we allow into our lives, etc.
I am not one to make a bunch of official “resolutions” per se. I find that I just get myself overwhelmed and set up for failure. I do, however, think about one thing I can work on and do better. Most often this is related to my spiritual life. Two years ago I decided I was going to spend more time consistently learning God’s Word - which lead me to start a Daily Scripture Writing Challenge (which I am so thankful to say I have kept up with for two years and still going strong! I actually run a FB group where I post what a schedule of what we write about each month. You are welcome to join me and give it a try yourself - I’d love to have you! Simply click HERE to read more about it). Doing this writing challenge has made a HUGE impact in my daily walk with God.
Last year I decided I wanted to read more - which again, I was able to follow through. I read a lot of really great books, most of which I will be sharing about on my resources page over the coming months. I plan to continue reading like that this year as well.
So as I was thinking of this coming year, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do. And I realized something I am a little ashamed to admit. I have never fully read the Bible completely through in one year. Oh, over the years I have read every book of the Bible, but not continuously through and definitely not all the way through in one year. Which made my decision easy. I want to read it all the way through in the year 2021. My next decision was how I was going to accomplish this. I need a plan to follow, otherwise I for sure would not follow through
There are many plans out there that you can follow. You can just start in Genesis and read a specific amount of chapters a day. You can read a little from each of the Old and New Testaments. You can read in Chronological order. You can read by Themes. The options really are endless. But it is important to have a plan. As the old saying, “Fail to plan and plan to fail.”
Last week my husband came across a plan that intrigued me. It is called the Five Day Bible Reading Plan. I took the time to look it over, and there are a couple reasons I like the looks of this plan. Here they are:
Five Days - This plan schedules the reading for five days a week. That mentally will help relieve the pressure as it leaves two days to catch-up if I get behind.
Chronological - The plan goes chronological. You do readings from both the Old and New Testaments, but the readings are chronological accordingly. For instance, when you are reading about David, you also read the Psalms that he wrote during that time.
Free - There are many great plans out there that are free, and this is one of them. In my research, I have found that some of the best plans do cost a little, which is not a always a bad thing, but having one available for free is a bonus. (*The creators of this Five Day Reading Plan do have a way for you to donate to help them as they create other resources like this.)
Because of these things, I have decided to go with this plan (my husband is using this one as well). Out of all the plans that I have seen, this one seems to be one that I can see myself sticking too. Click HERE to see and download this plan.
I am very excited to add this to my daily Bible study routine. And I thought I would share it with you, not only as a way to help me be accountable (Lord willing I can report back this time next year showing a completed checklist of the reading schedule!), but to also spread the word about the plan. Perhaps others are looking for a plan and this would be one you would be interested in as well! If you do want to try this one out, please let me know and we can start a little accountability group and check in on each other once a month or so! I think it would be fun, and it always helps to have someone come alongside you in any venture.
If this plan does not seem to interest you, I wanted to share another plan that looks interesting:
365 Day Reading Bible Reading Plan - This one also looks very good - I may consider getting it and saving for another time. It does have a small cost, but it is currently on sale, though I am not sure for how long. Once you purchase, you receive a pdf for you to print off the schedule. It is broken down into one week on a page. Each day you will have the references listed that you are to read, as well as lists the highlights and a couple prompts to help you dig a little deeper. The reading is done in chronological order, and should only take roughly 12 minutes a day. This is an every day reading plan. Click HERE to find out more about this plan.
You can also go to ligonier.org. They have an article that lists many plans, explaining what each one is and a link to each plan. There really are so many options - pretty much one for every personality!
January 1st, 2021, is literally hours away. And while the clock striking midnight doesn’t mean that all the hard stuff happening right now is going to immediately change, we can still enter it with a plan to grow and learn and work to change ourselves. I can think of no better way to improve myself than to grow in my knowledge of the Bible. Will you join me?