Bible Reading Tracker

Today’s post was written by Seth Brown, a long-time friend, fellow Mississippian relocated to North Carolina, and recent SEBTS graduate.

I want to share with you a tool that I use while reading the Bible. Now, before you roll your eyes, it’s not another “best-and-most-holy-Bible-reading-plan-ever.” In fact, it’s not a Bible reading plan at all.

There are plenty of good plans out there; they just never seem to work well for me. Like many of you, I can never stick to a year long plan. For starters, I change my mind way too much. I start a plan and then find a “better” one just a few months down the road. And, I often binge-read, which never fits well with pre-made plans. Sometimes I want to read through the Psalms in a month or so. Other times, I find myself reading 1 and 2 Corinthians in one sitting. Still others, I want to slowly peruse Proverbs. I end up frustrated and bored with pre-made plans, feeling like a failure for quitting what I started. I thought, “What if there was a way to simply keep track of what I read without following a ‘plan.'” Enter the Bible Reading Tracker.

Sounds awesome, right? Well, here’s the anti-climactic part: it’s just a list of all the books and chapters of the Bible. And, even more underwhelming, it’s not even my idea. I saw a similar document online a few years ago (I wanted to include a link but I can’t find it anymore). The Bible Reading Tracker is a simple way of marking off each chapter of the Bible that you’ve read. Here’s why I like it:

1) It’s not a plan. (I like you, M’Cheyne, but don’t tell me what to read. 😉 )

2) It’s flexible. Read what you want. Read what’s on your heart. Read what you’re teaching. Read what your church or small group is reading. Read a little or a lot. Just read.

3) It lets you see what you haven’t read so you can make sure you’re not ignoring certain parts of the Scripture. (Yes, you need to read Habakkuk.) You see, God has inspired every book of the Bible to be written for the upbuilding of His people. Therefore, reading every part of it only makes sense.

4) It’s formatted to fit into medium size Bibles or small notebooks.

5) It’s a bookmark!

6) It’s easy to print and share.

In all sincerity, I hope this helps you faithfully and joyfully read the Scriptures, for they are “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).