Baseball players take batting practice pretty much every day that weather permits. If you have ever watched a major league batting practice, you know that it moves quickly and it is quite organized. Players do not randomly show up for batting practice and hit whenever they get a chance. The coach sets a batting practice schedule, each player is expected to be there, and each player knows what he will do during his allotted time. There is a definite plan.

For the Christian, Bible reading can be a daily spiritual discipline that refreshes us and prepares us to face the day ahead. Bible reading serves at least two purposes in our lives. First, it fills our minds and saturates our lives with Godly thoughts. Our minds can only hold so much information, so why not fill it full with good stuff and leave no room for the bad. In addition, Bible reading helps us to grow in our faith. Paul reminds us in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.“

Yet so many of us do not have a reading plan. Sure, we may find a moment or two a day or two a week to squeeze in some reading, or we may be curious about a particular issue or need and take the time to see how the Bible addresses it. However, for the most part, we do not practice the discipline of regularly setting aside time each day to read God’s Word.

We may approach Bible reading two ways and both are important. One way is to read a small portion of the Bible, a verse or paragraph, and then ponder its meaning and application to our lives. For sake of terminology, I refer to this as meditation, and I will cover that in the next blog. For this blog, let’s look at another way to read the Bible: reading for content. With this type of reading, we read large blocks of the Bible to get an overall view of what God has told us in His Word.

One might consider reading through the Bible over the course of a year. In doing do, the reader devotes about 30 minutes a day to read both an Old and New Testament passage of Scripture. You will find a good online plan for reading the Bible through in a year here, and a good printable plan here.

Another good option I have used involves reading a Proverb everyday for a month. The Book of Proverbs contains 31 chapters, so reading one a day will get you through a month. Reading through Proverbs twelve times a year will solidify God’s wisdom in your heart and mind.

John MacArthur takes a similar approach. He chooses a single book of the Bible and reads it in its entirety each day, every day, for an entire month. After reading a book of the Bible 30 consecutive times, you have a very good grasp on its content. Often he reads a different translation each day for variety and fresh insight.

Whatever method you choose, let me encourage you to discipline yourselves to set aside time everyday to swing away in the cages of God’s Word. Set your spiritual timing and refresh your soul as you feed on His Word.