Book Review: One Year Chronological Bible

December 30, 2010 in: Book Reviewsseparator=, &Devotions

I am sharing a review of a book that I haven’t quite finished yet, but I’ve got a pretty good idea how it ends and I wanted to share it in a timely matter. Quiet times and daily devotionals can easily get in a rut and I enjoying hearing creative ideas from other people, so I thought I’d share this one with you.

The One Year Chronological Bible was my Christmas present to myself last year. I read the paperback version in the New Living Translation from Tyndale. Click on the book cover below to a link.
The Bible is arranged with readings for every day of the year, usually about three to six pages each day. Instead of traditional order, the passages are arranged in the order that the events occurred. The first five books of the Bible pretty much are the same, but then passages became interwoven from different books.

I was especially interested to see how passages from the prophets, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, related to events taking place in Kings and Chronicles. In many other places, the chronological order enlightening. One of these was seeing how the Babylonian exile related directly to the people’s sins. It also gave a greater sense of how profound this experience one to the nation of Israel.

The most interesting part of all was reading the gospels in order, with texts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all mixed together. It really conveyed the impact of Jesus’ ministry. An unexpected place where I learned was reading Acts, then following Paul’s letters as he wrote them between missionary journeys.

If you’ve ever read the Bible through, you know it is an undertaking. It’s a daily commitment, because if you get behind just a day or two it becomes easy to get discouraged. If you’ve never read the Bible through, it may be a good time to actually read the book you’ve staked your eternity on if you’re a Christian.

I read the Bible through for the first time in 2004. I’d recommend starting with a traditional Bible reading, but if you’re looking for something fresh, the chronological Bible might be just what you need. Some arrangements include passage from the Old and New Testament each day; I prefer to go from start to finish. I usually read it in the evenings. Sometimes it was very moving; sometimes it was a chore just to get through. But I always told myself I was reading for the big picture, it was understandable if some days were dry.

For those of you tackling the Bible for the first time, be aware that the hardest part is Leviticus and Numbers. I’m convinced if you can make it to April 1 reading the Bible everyday, you’ll easily make it to the end of the year.
The New Living Translation is a readable translation which helped the passages to flow and also gave a fresh perspective to familiar scriptures. This particular format was “front loaded” with slightly longer passages in the Old Testament, so you could get to the New Testament sooner in the year.

Reading the Bible this year helped me so much, I decided it would be a good habit to invest in my spiritual health every year. This year I bought Valley of Vision a collection of Puritan prayers.

What things are you doing to keep your time with God and His word fresh this year?

“Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.’” John 6:68