Reading entire Bible in one year possible with structured plan

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, but with 66 books, 1,189 chapters, more than 30,000 verses and approximately 700,000 words, reading it from Genesis’ “In the beginning,” to Revelation’s final “Amen” requires a plan and a commitment. 
   
Last year, Bob Gladney, executive pastor of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, received several requests for a plan to read the Bible through during 2006. 
   
So Gladney found a chronological plan on the Internet and began publishing each day’s reading in the church’s weekly newsletter. 
   
“It was a simple thing we could do each week to remind people to read God’s Word daily,” he said. 
   
As Gladney found, there are many resources available to help individuals meet the goal of reading through the entire Bible in one year. 
   
Several Web sites, such as www.bibleplan.org, www.biblegateway.com and www.oneyearbibleonline.com, offer plans, and some even offer an e-mail reminder service to help readers stay on track. 
   
Plans are available in a variety of translations that guide the reader through the Bible in a variety of ways, including a chronological reading, a comprehensive reading or plans that focus on the Bible’s personalities.
   
Some sites also offer to e-mail the plan and the daily selections directly to readers.
   
LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention offers a free e-mail newsletter to online subscribers that includes a devotional reading from the “Every Day with Jesus” Holman Christian Standard Bible and verses for reading the Bible in one year. 
   
This can be found by visiting www.lifeway.com and clicking on the “Free eNewsletters” link, then looking under the “Devotions” tab.
   
The “Every Day with Jesus” Bible is one of many special editions of the Bible designed to help readers achieve the goal of reading the Bible in a year. 
   
Tyndale House Publishers, for example, produces several one-year Bibles, including King James Versions and New International Versions.
   
According to Tim Jordan, marketing manager with Bible reference and Spanish products for Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, the readings from “Every Day with Jesus” include a Scripture passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, along with a devotional passage and a prayer. 
   
“Every Day with Jesus” is also flexible, even though its entries are dated, he said.
   
“The majority of the time people are looking for one-year Bibles around Christmas or the start of the new year,” Jordan said. “But you can easily start any day of the year with this Bible.”
   
Christine Greiner, manager of the LifeWay Christian Store in Oxford, said along with daily Bibles, other study aids, including laminated bookmark plans and reading plan pamphlets, are available. 
   
Regardless of the specific plan, Gladney believes that reading the Bible through in one year is a worthwhile endeavor and has a significant spiritual impact on the person who undertakes the task, including an increase in biblical knowledge and instruction. 
   
He also believes that daily Bible reading provides strength to face the challenges of life, and a daily reading plan can help many Christians stay on track with that. 
   
“When we read the Bible, we learn to be obedient to God,” he said. “So not only is a reading plan a reminder to read God’s Word every day; it’s a reminder to use God’s Word as our road map every day as well.”