One Bite a a Time

There's an old proverb that says, "The way to eat an elephant is one bite a time." Reading through the Bible in a year is much the same thing. If each day you do your daily reading, you'll end up reading through the Bible in a year.

With the plan I've selected most days will be 25 out each month. This means in most months means five to six days off each month.

Today, I'd like you to consider those days off and how you would like to use them.

You can look at your overall schedule and decide that you'd like to take a specific day off from reading each week. Maybe it's the day at work that you have longer hours, maybe it's Sunday because you go to church, maybe it's the day your children have a lot going on. Some people need that regular break from reading if this is you then don't hesitate to plan for it.

On the other hand, maybe your whole week is open or crazy and no one day stands out for you. Then you might want to consider the "It's okay, whatever" plan. In this plan, you plan to read everyday, but if you miss a day, you know you have those five extra days each month. If this plan seems right, but you are worried about taking off too many days, then make a check mark next to each month's name when you take a day off, five checks and you know you can't take off any more days that month. Or maybe if it is the tenth and you've already got four checks, you know you can't take a day off for a while.

Or hoard your days off. Read everyday and go ahead and move on to the next month before this month is over. This is a great plan if you will want to skip reading on vacations or for specific big events later in the year: a big work project, finals week, a child's wedding. I generally work a combination of this and the it's okay plan so I can take a vacation without reading.

Which ever route you decide to go on, you can look out for two dangers. The first two months or so of reading will help to cement you into your pattern of reading, so really work hard in January and February to stay on track with your reading. Second, sometimes unexpected events can throw you off. Think about how you want to handle those. Especially consider what you'll want to do if something lengthy and stressful comes up.