Reading for Shirkers and Slackers – Reading with a Plan

There is something about having a great name, and this Bible reading plan has a GREAT NAME. The name of this plan is “the Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers”. Rather than giving you  a defined week by week set of readings, the plan simply separates the Bible into different days. So every Sunday you will read from the Psalms, every Friday you’ll read New Testament History (the Gospels and Acts), so on and so forth.

This plan is sort of like developing a workout plan. Monday is for cardio, Tuesday is leg day, Wednesday is for arms, Thursday for chest, etc. You can pick up the plan here http://ransomfellowship.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/notes_biblereadingprogram.pdf

The other great thing about the plan is that it doesn’t necessarily give you a timeline. It just gets you into the habit of reading a variety of different Scriptural genres on different days so that you get a sense of everything in the Bible. In fact, you wouldn’t even need to use their chapter recommendations (although they’re pretty good). You would just have to follow this basic outline of days and genres:

Sunday – Old Testament Poetry – Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs/Solomon

Monday – Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Tuesday & Wednesday – O.T. History – Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Job, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Thursday – O.T Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Friday – New Testament History – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts

Saturday – New Testament Epistles – Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude, Revelation.

Again, the great thing about this plan is its lack of pressure. Miss a day? No problem, just resolve to read the genre for the next day. No worries about having to “make up” missed readings unless you really want to.

In Brief:

  1. Goes through the entire Bible in a year? Yes. (If you do all of the readings as outlined in the plan, but who has time for that?)
  2. Number of readings per day? One. (several chapters)
  3. Readings mixed from Old and New Testaments? Per day, no. Per week, yes.
  4. Average length of readings – 2-3 chapters (per day), about 10 minutes of reading out loud to read a normal day’s readings.
  5. Number of days per week in plan – Seven. (But! you can skip a day if you need to)
  6. Available smartphone app? Doesn’t look like it.
  7. Available explanations/devotions/prayers? Nope.
  8. Available reminders? Nope.

I actually sort of do a version of this. Every morning I look at one of the lectionary readings for the upcoming Sunday, so I can tell you that it’s Tuesday is I am reading the Old Testament or Acts, that it’s Wednesday if I am reading a Psalm, Thursday if I’m reading an Epistle, and Friday if I’m reading the Gospels. It’s kind of neat to know what day it is based on what part of the Bible you’re reading and vice versa. 

So if you’re looking for a Bible reading plan with some grace, this is the one for you! You may be a shirker or a slacker, but you’re one that is reading the Word of God! (most days, anyway).