A personal blog
Habit changing facts about Bible reading come to light in the following pages.
By questions and answers over a time of 28 years and over 10,000 days, reading 30 pages every single day and some days many more, 4 words form the basis of a new, rich habit reading the Bible through.
It is my only wish in this publication to give you the essentials to begin and maintain a daily reading habit through the Bible.
Keep this publication in your reading Bible, not only for your own reference, but to help the many hungry men and women, boys and girls, to share the joy of reading the Bible through several times every year.
10,000 days reading through the Bible began 28 years ago and has continued every day since 1950. Successful Bible reading requires 4 things: PURPOSE - to know God and His Word better. PLAN - to read the entire Bible through in a set number of pages. SCHEDULE - reading a set number of pages (not chapters) each day to finish on a set day. RECORD - keeping records of times read through the Bible, goals in Bible reading through, and marking a calendar each day when the set number of pages are read.
Arising at 5:00 A.M. every day of the year, I read a set of number of pages in a minimum time limit of one hour. In 1950 during 3 days of fasting and prayer, God told me to read the Bible through over and over. Information was scarce, so constant research all over the world in the Bible reading field has been a major part of my life ever since. 14 extended trips overseas, reaching 60 nations on all continents, covering over 200,000 miles, and spending over four years abroad have given time to research libraries, confer with leaders in the Bible field, to ask thousands of people about their Bible reading habits, how it was done, when it was done, how much of the Bible was read daily, and did they read straight through the Bible? What problems did they meet along the way and what was done to solve them? Discussions were held with missionaries and teachers of various denominations, colleges and universities, Bible distribution centers, businessmen, men in the medical and mental fields, and anywhere that Bible reading could be brought into the conversation. Reactions were carefully noted and the following paragraphs are written for the benefit of Bible believers who deeply yearn to become avid readers of the whole Bible, and to live in the light of the eternal Word of God.
What is the reading problem? 57% of American adults never read a book through according to the Gallop poll. Television reports 90% of Americans are in trouble with reading and over 90% of the Bible believers are in trouble with their Bible reading. Have you heard this statement — “This BOOK will KEEP YOU from sin, or SIN WILL keep YOU from THIS BOOK!” I am convinced that a lack of the Word of God in personal life is responsible for the confusion, frustrations, and bitterness that fills the average personality, and this is the cause for much illness and suffering. My Christian Counseling broadcasts emphasizing the Bible as GOD’S ANSWER BOOK for all human problems brings letters filled with hate, envy, sorrow, resentment and fear — Dr. McMillen says these five emotions cause at least 60% of all illness. Three times the Bible warns “Man SHALL NOT LIVE…but by EVERY WORD OF GOD!” Personal counseling with thousands around the world confirms that so little is known about the “sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” that it is not being used as God intended - to defeat sin and the devil now in our daily living on earth. The Word of God is the believer’s weapon against the devil—a sword. Read it—Know it—Use it—continue in it reading through it—to be FREE!
It is reported that Americans read 1-1/4 hours a day: newspapers - 30 minutes; magazines - 25 minutes; reports - 20 minutes; NO BIBLE READING listed. A book has been on the market for years containing several pages of good suggestions for Bible reading. Later in the same book, the author admits he never read the Bible through in his life! When two questions were asked in a convention of 3,000, “Do you read the Bible 20 minutes a day?” And “Do you pray 20 minutes a day?" 80%, or 2,400, did not! Several hundred ministers discussed a motion to recommend a Bible reading program to their people. After several hours of discussion, the motion was “tabled” (not voted on) because no specific reading plan was found! Patrick Henry on his deathbed said, “Here is a Book, worth more than all others that were ever printed, yet it is my misfortune NEVER TO HAVE FOUND TIME TO READ IT.” Consider that most of the suggestions for Bible reading in the past did not produce Bible readers, and I am keeping this failure-factor in mind as I continue to write for a Bible hungry, world wide audience.
What is considered good reading? The National Reading Institute reports 200 words a minute poor reading. 250 words a minute is good. 400 words a minute is excellent. If you read less than 200 words a minute the mind wanders off to other things. The mind is a computer that picks up ideas—not words. As long as you get the idea from what you read, a better rate of reading is yours from practice, practice and more practice, reading from a set number of pages an hour, then a few more pages the next day, and gradually move your reading rate up and when you go back a bit in your words per minute, you will still be doing better than when you get started.
For all considerations we will use the slowest rate—200 words a minute in following paragraphs. This 200 words per minute is not reading, but a suggestion to help you discontinue dragging your reading through the Bible. You can read too fast and you can read too slow—by far the greater percentage of Bible readers read much too slow. This is a bad habit. You will lose interest. You will quit reading your Bible through. Slow reading is why so many people do not and have not read the Bible through in the past.
When you read the Bible at 200 words a minute (about 10 verses), for one hour a day, you WILL read the Bible through in 2 MONTHS or 6 times a year. Are you surprised? Thousands of people are surprised about this.
When you read the Bible at 200 words a minute (and that is slow reading), for only 1/2 hour or 30 minutes daily, you will read the Bible through in 4 MONTHS or 3 times a year! Are you still surprised?
Someone has written that 2/3 of all Bible books (44 of 66) are small books, AND CAN BE READ THROUGH, each one of the 44, in 30 MINUTES OR LESS! If two small books are read in 1 hour each day, TWO THIRDS OF THE ENTIRE BIBLE IS READ THROUGH IN ONLY 22 DAYS! IF the remaining 22 longer books are read through, one a day, THE ENTIRE BIBLE CAN BE READ THROUGH IN 44 DAYS or 6 weeks and 2 DAYS! THAT’S 8 TIMES THROUGH YEARLY!
If you READ THE Bible through only once a year—5 pages daily—you will not remember what you read because your thoughts will not hold together because other thoughts will crowd into the mind, and you are not taking enough of the Word into your mind and heart to do much good.
Be sure to use a Giant print reading Bible, and when it is cut into 7 volumes of 260 pages each, it is not heavy, you can keep your volume with you and you should at all times. You can then read in spare moment or while waiting. Hundreds of otherwise lost hours can be redeemed by reading the Word continually. I have done this for years with great profits in my life.
Be sure to have a good study Bible. Do not read from your study Bible, and do not study from your reading Bible. One of the things you must stop is trying to mix reading and study. Reading through the Bible is on a schedule (reading a set number of pages each day to finish at a set date); but study can be slow, you can mull over Scriptures as much as you like, mark verses, BUT NOT WHILE READING YOUR HOUR A DAY!
Moody puts it straight for all of us:
“When I READ the Bible—GOD TALKS TO ME.”
“When I STUDY—I prepare myself to TALK TO OTHERS.”
This distinction and order must not be forgotten. Daily Bible reading a set number of pages daily should be done while you are alone—GOD TALKS TO YOU as you read His Word. Do not share your reading time with anyone but God. You are not having devotions—you are reading the Bible through! We all easily understand the second—I look up and TALK TO GOD. The third “study” is another thing separate from the first two. I have read articles and books on Bible reading only to find that the author falls into the old trap—he talks five sentences on reading the Bible and twenty five on study. This is wrong—he said he was talking about reading the Bible—he was not! You must not run reading and study together because they do not mix. You will go overboard on “study” and neglect reading. All three should and must be done without neglecting the others if you want a balanced life in God. As a college teacher, I was told you were not prepared to teach any text book until you have read it several times through. How are you going to study or teach any book you have not read? Let us read the Bible through—start today!
Wilbur M. Smite wrote “HAVE YOU NOT READ?” in “Christianity Today” and stated that “Jesus rebuked the Pharisees twice, the Sadducees twice and the scribes once FOR NOT READING THE BIBLE.” Jesus repeats the question 11 times “HAVE YOU NOT READ?” in the first 3 Gospels.
“Have you NOT read?” Matt. 12:3.
“Have YOU not READ in the law?” Matt. 12:5.
“Have you NOT read?” Matt.19:4.
“Have YOU NEVER read?” Matt. 21:16.
“Did YOU NEVER read?” Matt. 21:42.
“Have YOU NOT READ that which was SPOKEN unto you by God?” Matt. 22:31.
“Have you NEVER read?” Mark 2:25.
“Have YOU NOT READ THIS SCRIPTURE?” Mark 12:10.
“Have you NOT READ in the BOOK of Moses?” Mark 12:26.
“Have you NOT READ so much as this?” Luke 6:3.
“HOW READEST thou?” Luke 10:26 How Do You Read? Spurgeon picked up a Bible with a whole made all the way through by a worm, and he cried out, “Make me a Book worm for Jesus.”
Campbell Morgan told an audience the entire Bible could be read through in 80 hours at the SLOW READING RATE pastors use in the pulpit. A lawyer challenged him, admitting that he had never read the Bible through. Morgan told him to read the Bible through before presenting a public challenge. The lawyer read the Bible through IN LESS THAN 80 HOURS!
George Muller read the bible through every 90 days (3 months) or 4 times a year for 25 years, and said, “I am a happy, happy, happy man.” In his writings he tells of some problems that came up in early morning prayer hours. He decided TO READ THE BIBLE FIRST each day—his regular prayer time followed and the problems vanished!
Alvy Ford, blinded in World War 2, says, “I have the Bible on records, but in reading I turn it up (faster) because I find the thought easier to follow and keep the thought fresh in my mind. In reading the Bible one must exercise SELF DISCIPLINE. If I skip several days, I HAVE TO START OVER AND FORCE MYSELF TO READ. I have set a DEFINITE SCHEDULE—through every 3 months or 4 times a year. I DECIDED TO SEE HOW QUICKLY I COULD READ THE BIBLE THROUGH—4-1/2 days! QUICK READING GAVE ME A MUCH CLEARER CONCEPT of God’s dealing with people and how God would like to deal with me. I RECOMMEND THIS RAPID READING, AND PLAN TO DO IT AGAIN SOON.”
Ravenhill, in his book “Meat For Men” tells of Dr. Sung who was placed in the state hospital in White Plaines, New York. He requested a Bible AND READ IT THROUGH 40 TIMES IN 6 MONTHS, and received a working knowledge of all 1189 chapters in the Bible—EVERY 4-1/2 DAYS FOR HALF A YEAR. He was dismissed, completely recovered, from the hospital!
A blind man heard the Bible read through every 90 days (3 months or 4 times a year) and once in 4-1/2 days. A mentally ill man read the Bible through every 4-1/2 days or 40 times in 6 months. Every blind person and all persons not able to read SHOULD LISTEN TO THE BIBLE ON RECORDS OR TAPE at least an hour a day. 21 MILLION AMERICANS OVER twenty-one years of age CANNOT READ—they MUST listen by records of tapes as the entire Bible is read to them. We all NEED God’s Word and will be without excuse on the day of Judgment!
Will you present a challenge like the lawyer did to Morgan having never read it through? Or will you accept these factual experiences of men who have read the Bible through repeatedly over and over, accept the facts of reading in the right spirit, READ YOUR BIBLE THROUGH FOR YOURSELF SEVERAL TIMES OVER and you will be talking from a blessed experience of several reading trips through the Bible, instead of opposing what most believers since the days of the apostles have failed to do—READ THEIR BIBLES THROUGH!
How do you read? Once in awhile? Hit or miss, wherever the Bibles falls open? Only when in trouble or during a storm or the death of a loved one? Just morning devotions with the family and a few verses from the Bible? Reading only the Sunday School lesson? Reading a devotional guide instead of the Bible with its tiny “text” from the Bible? Struggle through the Bible once a year? Read a short Psalm? Or part of a favorite chapter?
Please understand that every time Jesus referred to “Reading” it was only in relation to reading the Scriptures—Christ never made reference to any other reading in His ministry!
H. Mears wrote, “Don’t suppose you can read the Bible through once and get its meaning. START OVER AGAIN WHILE THE FIRST TIME THROUGH THE BIBLE IS FRESH IN YOUR MIND, and read the Bible over and over again until the Bible becomes part of your personality.” HEREIN, I say, is the SOLUTION to every problem under the sun—the Bible! Mears warns, “Don’t suppose that reading LITTLE SCRAPS will ever give you a knowledge of the Bible.”
How does the Bible get into me?
Only 2 ways. The EAR gate—HEARING the Bible preached and proclaimed. The EYE gate—READING the Bible for yourself. Dr. Stalker spoke for the National Bible Society of Scotland and said, “I was in France with no Protestant church, SO I SPENT SUNDAY READING THE BIBLE HERE AND THERE. But when I came to Romans READ IT THROUGH and discovered the theme of the book. It was revolutionary! I FELT THE FORCE of the book AS A WHOLE, and EVERY BOOK IN THE BIBLE WILL DO THE SAME for you.”
Moody testifies, “One week I read Ephesians 93 TIMES THROUGH (13 times daily for a week) and on Sunday preached without notes under the strongest anointing I ever felt in a single service in my life.”
Dr. Gray longed for many years to be filled with the Word of God, but failed to see the way. One day at a conference he met a layman overflowing in the power of the Word and asked him, “How did this happen to you?” The layman answered “BY READING BOOKS OF THE BIBLE OVER AND OVER.” The great preacher was humbled by learning a lesson from a layman he had never discovered in his own ministry. Note the power in reading a whole book of the Bible!
FOR YEARS when people have sincerely asked “How should I start a Bible reading schedule in my own life?” I have answered thus—If you have never read the Bible through, PLAN NOW TO START READING EACH BOOK OF THE BIBLE THROUGH AT LEAST FIVE TIMES before going on to the next book in the Bible. Remember if you ever come into a knowledge of the Bible, it must be first a knowledge of Bible books—every book in the Bible—because the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible by books, and the Bible is a Divine Library of 66 books for all of us to READ and KNOW and OBEY to be FREE!
These trips through the Bible books and eventually the entire Bible book by book give you a broad view of the whole Word of God and without this over-all view of the Bible, you will never quite know where you are in separate books. The quickest and soundest and most enjoyable foundation in the total Bible is to go over each book at least five times and Dr. Gray makes the following suggestions that makes very clear what has been written in the last two paragraphs.
Dr. Gray suggests, (1) Read the book continually WITHOUT REFERENCE TO CHAPTERS AND VERSES. (2) Read it REPEATEDLY until you possess an outline. (3) Read it only at first, without reference to commentaries or helps. (4) Read it relying on the Holy Spirit who wrote it through inspired men, and will enlighten its pages to your understanding. (5) Read it until your spirit bows in adoration and worship before God. LET ITS MESSAGE SEARCH YOU THROUGH AND THROUGH until YOU BECOME ONE WITH ITS PRECEPTS. This requires DISCIPLINE and HARD WORK, but the rewards are beyond measure.
You ask how to have a Bible reading schedule in your own life? You have been told—it is actually so simple—yet the average believer lives and dies never knowing the comfort of the Scriptures, simply because he never read them enough to find out!
Never read the Bible hop, skip and jump. Never limit your reading to familiar passages. Do not read a few chapters in the Old Testament and a few chapters in the New Testament. Dr. Scroggie says, “If you read the Bible, a bit from the Old Testament and a bit from the New Testament, you will REMAIN IGNORANT OF THE PLAN AND PURPOSE OF GOD IN THE BIBLE.”
Dr. Sidlow Baxtor pleads, “Leave the books of the Bible alone where God has seen fit to put them.” Remember also the chapters and verses are not actually a part of the Bible. “They should not be allowed to interrupt the connect READING OF THE SCRIPTURES… The chapter divisions are usually attributed to Stephan Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in England. The verse divisions of the Old Testament by Rabbi Nathan in 1148, and the New Testament verse by a printer of Paris, Robert Staphanus.”
Reading the Bible through by a SCHEDULE OF PAGES has worked well for me all these years, and thousands of people in many lands testify that the page reading makes it easier to read the same amount of Bible each day. Chapters and verse serve a purpose in finding references when you need them and that is good. Otherwise they have no purpose, and reading the Bible through, over and over, by a set number of pages daily, brings an order to your reading through the Bible that helps to strengthen the habit of daily Bible reading by reading the same amount of pages every day.
Why do so many people fail to read the Bible through? Because reading is a HABIT—under-developed in most individuals. Even some college graduates are not good readers. The secret is practice and more practice. Have a certain time to read each day, convenient to your life. Stick to it. Never skip a single day.
It takes 30 days to establish a better reading habit pushing and practicing every day. Sorry to say, most people will not continue and thus fail to get out of the rut of old reading habits formed years ago. Have you heard someone say, “I read slow to get it.” The fact really is you read slow because you never tried to read any other way.
Will I understand and remember what I read every day? When reading the Bible, you have the Holy Spirit as Guide and Teacher. Moody said, “When you read the Bible through, ENJOY what you understand, knowing the Holy Spirit will reveal new truths as you continue reading.” The Holy Spirit will “bring back to your remembrance” what you read and know in the Bible, but you must put things in the mind that can be recalled by the Spirit.
What about the long lists of names? There are not that many lists in the Bible. If all the lists of names were in one section of the Bible, they could easily be read in 1/2 hour or less. The names in the Old Testament are important because they show the line by which Christ came to be our Saviour. Would you stay off a freeway because of a few miles of rough road? I doubt it. There are times reading through the Bible when you will speed up a bit and there will be times when it will be best to slow down a bit. We only remember 20% of what we read, and that is the reason for repeated readings through the Bible.
Dr. Moule puts it right when he says, “No matter what your study method, BE ALWAYS READING YOUR BIBLE THROUGH.” We read it all so we will know what part we need to return to for the purpose of study.
What about the schedule for reading the Bible through?
We give you SIX SCHEDULES OF READING TO BE FAIR WITH EVERYONE.
The reading Bible you should use should be big print and not marked much.
| 5 pages day | Through in 365 days | Through 1 Time Year |
|---|---|---|
| 10 pages day | Through in 180 days | Through 6 months - 2 Times Year |
| 15 pages day | Through in 120 days | Through 4 months - 3 Times Year |
| 20 pages day | Through in 90 days | Through 3 months - 4 Times Year |
| 30 pages day | Through in 60 days | Through 2 months - 6 Times Year |
| 60 pages day | Through in 30 days | Through 1 months - 12 Times Year |
260 pages, average pages, to each of 7 volumes. No one is asking anyone to follow any certain schedule. You make the choice honestly. If you do not follow a schedule in Bible reading, the chances are slim that you will ever read the Bible through. The devil and circumstances will see to it that, without discipline and determination, you will never read your Bible through.
How Often should I read the Bible through?
J. Hamilton said, “The Word of God still will stand 1,000 readings, and HE WHO HAS GONE OVER IT THE MOST FREQUENTLY, is the SUREST OF FINDING NEW TREASURES THERE.” It is entirely up to you. Make the fairest and best decision that you can for the best in eternity. The Book will be there when you arrive. How will you really feel, glad or sad at the sight of the world’s most wonderful and only inspired and living Book?
What are the 7 rules for better reading?
PRE-READ—Look the book over, title page, contents, headings, author, look over the first and last chapters of the book. Authors state their case in chapter one and summarize in the last chapter.
SHIFT SPEED—Let eyes go over print like a car goes over different roadbeds, sometimes slow down and sometimes speed up.
READ PHRASES—even paragraphs—do not read one word at a time.
Read With PURPOSE–there are really 4: Information - New Ideas - Enrichment - Relaxation.
Concentrate—you can read too slow, just like too fast. You remember only 20% of what you read, regardless of slow or fast reading.
Skim names and small details. Knowing BIG points will bring the little ones into memory and focus. Try it and see.
Find and follow the MAIN thought. Remember - when you have heard a speaker, and you later tell a friend what he said - you really report what you remember he said - NEVER do you report what the speaker said word for word - if you talk that way, why not read that way? It does work!
How to find time to read that book.
Lydia Roberts said: 1. Talk less. 2. Carry book with you. 3. Keep book under pillow for sleepless nights. 4. Wake up 15 minutes early to read. 5. Keep the book with you at all times - read while waiting.
Again be reminded READING IS A HABIT. If we obey Jesus we will read the Bible through because Jesus was concerned about Bible reading in His day. Some read only the New Testament, but the Bible is one Book and if all references in the New Testament to the Old Testament were removed, you would have only a few chapters left! Be honest about it. No one fully understands and enjoys the New Testament who does not read and know the Old Testament as well. Be determined to read the whole of the Bible several times a year all the way through.
Can you give a summary of what you have written?
Let us review from the words of reading specialist. Realize that new discoveries in the reading field have changed things permanently. You need not become a speed reader, but everyone should practice to be a better reader, and should obey certain rules of reading. No matter the speed that you read—we only remember 20%—“so be always reading the Bible through.”
Last April the Tampa Tribune invited Dr. Ratz, a reading specialist who reads 25,000 words a minute, to address 300 people in a double session at the International Inn. She was great! I sat with ears in my eyes as she told what could be done by understanding reading and comprehension better, and then she said, “Most you have come here in vain—what I have to say to you will not believe—and I can’t help you.”
I talked to some teachers after the double session—they got nothing out of what she said. A legal secretary laughed and said, “It’s not for me.” One person rudely interrupted several times because she did not understand either. My wife went home, believing what she heard about reading and increased her own reading speed from 300 to 700 words a minute with 90% comprehension. I could write a book on what Dr. Ratz said, I hardly looked up but took notes for the entire 120 minutes that I use to this day.
Dr. Ratz made several suggestions and I list just a few:
“If you read a book in 6 weeks, you have not read it, you have only played with it, and you will not remember what you read.”
“You must change your mental attitude to change your reading habits. It is not easy, and most of you will not take the time to do it.”
Use right hand as a pacer. Evelyn Woods discovered this in her Dynamics Reading Course known to thousands. Move the hand down the page to keep the eyes moving. Practice for 6 weeks to get good results and do it every day.
Keep an open mind. You are breaking old habits and making new ones, and IT WILL NOT BE EASY OR COMFORTABLE.
Always preview. Never pick up a book and just start reading. Find out if it fits your need.
Have a purpose. If you have no purpose then read no book. It will do you no good.
Read for ideas - not just words. Never again read a book in 3 or 18 sittings. Read books through at a single sitting to get the maximum out of them.
Test yourself. Figure your own words per minute. You can do better. There is a right and wrong way to read anything, even the newspaper.
Be positive and realize what an increased reading rate will do for your own store of ready information on any subject in which you are interested.
Start tonight - try out these suggestions when you get home while they are still on your mind.
What will continuous Bible reading do for me?
Your answer is in your own Bible and found in Deuteronomy 17:18-20.
The king is told he needs “the Book.” V18. “It shall be WITH him”…always. V19. Why? V19 “he shall READ THEREIN ALL the DAYS OF HIS LIFE:”
7 Blessings Of Bible Reading
7 BLESSINGS WILL RESULT:
“He shall READ therein ALL the DAYS of his LIFE” How can anyone honestly question consistent, constant, daily, READING THE BIBLE THROUGH? How can you refuse to do it? What will you say when you stand in His presence and the BOOK will face you there?
Remember SAUL REFUSED TO HAVE A COPY OF THE BOOK—SAUL DID NOT READ DAILY THROUGH THE BOOK—SAUL’S confused, unstable life, his mental illness, his hates and outlandish conduct and death should warn us all—DO NOT NEGLECT TO READ DAILY THROUGH AND KNOW GOD’S WORDS.
Just one hour daily reading the Bible through—Purpose—Plan—Schedule—Record. This does not hinder prayer and study time. All 3 Read-Pray-Study are separate and different. Bible reading through has suffered most in the past. Proper balance between the 3 is the only safe policy, no matter what you have been doing - make room for Bible Reading in your daily schedule and be sure to have a purpose-plan-schedule-keep a record.
Will I be successful? Success only appears once in the Bible - Joshua 1:8. “WORD SUCCESS” is all that is in the verse! That’s amazing, really. 4 Conditions: MOUTH—TALK THE WORD. MIND—THINK THE WORD. EYES—READ THE WORD. WILL—DO, OBEY THE WORD. 2 Promises: Thou shalt make thy way PROSPEROUS. Thou shalt have GOOD SUCCESS.
To TALK THE WORD—I must KNOW IT. John 8:30-32 “Jews BELIEVED ON HIM”. To THINK THE WORD—I must KNOW IT. CONTINUE in WORD—I WILL KNOW IT. “ye shall KNOW” (condition - read through). To OBEY THE WORD—I must KNOW IT. “TRUTH (Bible) make YOU FREE!!!”
FREE—the more I KNOW the TRUTH, the MORE FREE I AM through HIS WORD. I READ—PRAY—STUDY—all in BALANCE with the other, not one neglected! Paul put “READING” first in 1 Timothy 4—then “STUDY” in 2 Timothy 2:15. Let’s keep it in place to be balanced - many are over balanced on study and this must not be allowed.
Rev. 1:3 “Blessed (Happy) is he that READETH, and they that HEAR… and KEEP things are WRITTEN: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND.”
Now in the 28th year reading a certain number of pages daily, I look back with joy over 10,000 days, having read every day since 1950. Was it always easy? No. Did I fall behind schedule sometimes? Yes, but always made it up and kept a record always up to date. Has the schedule remained the same for the 28 years? No, but each time a change was made, reading was increased rather than decreased. Here is the schedule I look back upon today:
| 5 Years | 30 Pages Daily | Read through in 60 Days | 6 Times Yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Years | 45 Pages Daily | Read through in 40 Days | 9 Times Yearly |
| 20 Years | 60 Pages Daily | Read through in 30 Days | 12 Times Yearly |
| 22 Years | 90 Pages Daily | Read through in 20 Days | 18 Times Yearly |
| 23 Years | 120 Pages Daily | Read through in 15 Days | 24 Times Yearly |
| 24 Years | 260 Pages Daily | Read through in 7 Days | 52 Times Yearly |
| 28 Years | 608 Pages Daily | Read through in 3 Days | 121 Times Yearly |
My progress was gradual. I was a college graduate and college teacher, but did not know the rules for better reading when I began. I did not even know what good reading was or how to describe it.
For the first five years, the Bible was read through 6 times a year, or every two months—60 days. It was the hardest habit I ever tried to establish in my life!
For the next 10 years it took 6 weeks (1 1/2 months) to read the Bible through; for 20 years, it took 30 days or each month to read through. For 24 years it took a week to read through the Bible. 26 years it averaged 6 days reading through the Bible, and in the 28th year, the over all average is 3 days through, and it takes over an hour a day, with my giant print reading the Bible cut into 3 volumes—and I keep it with me all the time to read in spare moments during the day or night.
Moody offered five dollars to anyone who could catch him without his Bible. A young man found him in the hall of a Y.M.C.A. in his bathrobe on the way to the shower. When he asked about his Bible, Moody reached inside his robe to a small pocket his wife had placed there and pulled out his New Testament. The 7 Volume Giant print reading Bible is easy to keep with you all the time, at least the volume you are reading through, and this is really the secret of reading through the Bible in a short time. It is not just zipping through to build up a total! We all know there would be no profit with the wrong motive, but what about those who are critical who have no motive to read their Bible through?
My Bible is filled with key words all the way through, and serve as lights along the path reading through the Bible. Every book has a key word and every chapter (1,189) through the Bible has a chapter summary and a key verse in every chapter is marked. Main characters all the way through, main events all the way through, main crisis points all the way through, the highpoints all the way through, and this knowledge that came largely from repetition—reading the Bible through over and over—so that one is completely at home anywhere through the Word of God. This does not result form education, but repeatedly reading the Bible through over and over. The results in my life have been worth the daily effort for over 28 years!
I must remind you the material I have listed above is in my study Bible. Very little marking should ever appear in a reading Bible, and then only in light pencil that can be erased when transferred to your study Bible. No underlining whatsoever in your reading Bible. Such markings will hinder future reading through, and will hinder you getting new thoughts from the Holy Spirit as you read through. I can truthfully state that each time reading through the Bible is a major adventure for me, as the Holy Spirit points out things along the way I never saw before!
There have been times and even seasons over the years when my reading has been increased, sometimes reading ten hours a day. Overseas I had many opportunities to be alone a lot and these hours were turned into reading time through the Bible.
I do read other books—many books a year, but NEVER until my Bible reading is done for the day first. On trips I do not travel until a set number of pages are read daily. If I have a rushed schedule in some country, the reading is done the day before in order not to fall behind on the typed schedule that is made yearly and followed daily and marked on a calendar.
A final note and announcement. Bible Reading Seminars are conducted all over the world for various groups of believers, using diagrams in color to illustrate each step. CRUSADES are conducted also all over the world as God directs. In crusades Bible reading is discussed the first week. In the nights that follow a variety of subjects are presented in larger diagrams in color as that the audience can see the message as well as hear it.
A “BIBLE READER’S HANDBOOK” will be available soon, showing all the key words, and the chapter summary for every book in the Bible - each book diagram will be on a separate sheet of paper, so that when you read through, you only need turn the page to the book you are reading through, and it will give reading time and brief suggestions to aid you in understanding the book, and thus your reading trips through the Bible will be more enjoyable.
Feel free to write at any time and you will receive an answer to any questions about Bible reading. This service is free and open to all of you. God bless you, every one, and “Be always reading your Bible through.”
IT IS A FACT
Using the poor rate of reading 200 words a minute (about 10 verses) THE BIBLE CAN BE READ THROUGH, READING 30 MINUTES (1 1/2 HOUR) DAILY for 4 MONTHS or 3 TIMES A YEAR!
IT IS A FACT
God has spoken 7 blessings to His Bible readers in Deut. 17:19, 20. The 19th verse says, “he shall read therein ALL THE DAYS of his life.” If he is told to read ALL HIS DAYS, he must read ALL THE BOOK!
IT IS A FACT
Moody said, (1) “When I READ the Bible, GOD TALKS TO ME.” (2) “When I PRAY, I TALK TO GOD.” And (3) “When I STUDY, I TALK TO OTHERS.”
The 3 words are different and will not mix. How can I talk to others about God UNLESS I LET GOD TALK TO ME FIRST AS I READ THE BIBLE THROUGH.
IT IS A FACT
READING is a HABIT and we must PRACTICE TO PROGRESS DAILY. PUSH every day to CHANGE YOUR BAD READING HABIT. PRACTICE—read 10 pages in an hour. PRACTICE—read 15 pages in an hour. PRACTICE—read 20 pages in an hour. PRACTICE, PUSH, every day to a goal.
MOST WILL NOT—YOU CAN DO IT.
IT IS A FACT
George Mueller read the Bible through every 3 months (90 days) for 25 years—that would be 20 pages in the Giant Print edition Bible daily—this is SLOW reading, allowing 3 minutes to each page for one hour.
IT IS A FACT
To be FREE, we must KNOW THE TRUTH. THE CONDITION we MUST KNOW first, BY READING THE BOOK THROUGH. Then we ACT on what we KNOW and the result is FREEDOM. Remember the Chinese proverb, “A book not read is A BLOCK OF PAPER.”
IT IS A FACT
The 200 words per minute ARE NOT SPEED READING the Bible through. Some of my students read far beyond the 200 words, BUT AT 200 words a minute, you will be a far better reader of the Bible than you are NOW—TRY IT and SEE FOR YOURSELF how much MORE you will enjoy, remember, comprehend, and meditate in the WHOLE BIBLE as you repeatedly READ THE WHOLE BIBLE THROUGH over and over for your own good both here and in eternity.
Dr. Moule said, “No matter what your study habit, BE ALWAYS READING your Bible THROUGH.”
IT IS A FACT
You need not speed read your Bible, But over 90% of all Bible believers NEED TO READ THE Bible better, and daily and through. Start today!
IT IS A FACT
Dr. Sung, in state hospital, read the Bible through EVERY 4 1/2 DAYS for 6 months. He gained a working knowledge of every chapter in the Bible (1189) in only 6 months—reading the Bible from the first word to the last word over and over. He was released from the hospital completely free and well!
IT IS A FACT
If you use your clock or the timer on your stove, you will read more pages in the hour, and the more you read your Bible through, the clearer will be the over-all picture of God’s dealings with mankind through the ages.
IT IS A FACT
Reading 200 words a minute is poor by national standards, BUT THE BIBLE CAN BE READ THROUGH, reading ONE HOUR DAILY for 2 MONTHS or 6 TIMES A YEAR at 200 words a minute!
IT IS A FACT
44 Bible books ARE SHORT, EACH CAN BE READ IN 30 MINUTES (1/2 Hour). If 2 short Bible books are READ in ONE HOUR daily, 2/3 of the entire Bible can be read SLOWLY in 22 DAYS!
IT IS A FACT
All the way back to the apostles, the great majority of Bible believers have never read the Bible from start to finish.
IT IS A FACT
In the New Testament, Paul tells Timothy to READ in the first letter, and instructs him to “study” in the 2nd letter. This IS CORRECT ORDER!
IT IS A FACT
We must read entire books of the Bible at a time - do not chop it up, skip here and there, or read a few chapters in the Old Testament and then a few chapters in the New—NEVER DO THAT—“You will remain ignorant of God’s plan and purpose through the Bible.”
This article was first published on February 29, 2024. As you can see, there are no comments. I invite you to email me with your comments, criticisms, and other suggestions. Even better, write your own article as a response. Blogging is awesome.