“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1Jn. 2:27)
As I pray about how to encourage my readers to read through the Bible systematically, I am impressed with our need to let the Holy Spirit be our Teacher. He may not always tell us what we want to hear, but He will always communicate to us what Jesus our Lord is saying. “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (Jn. 16:13).
When I choose to read the Bible systematically, I do not replace the promptings of the Spirit by a man-made plan. Rather, I use the plan as a way of ensuring that I read all the Scriptures, not just the passages that appeal to me. I do not follow the plan rigidly, but I use it as a record and a guide. Most of the time, I will follow the readings in the order they appear, but I always remain open to the Spirit’s promptings to read other passages. Whatever I read for the first time that year gets checked off, to make sure I read the entire Bible, at least once every two years.
Rather than hindering the work of the Holy Spirit, I have found that the Lord works with my reading plan. Very often, the passages I read either answer questions I have been pondering, or they speak directly into my life. I believe the Lord directs my thoughts and circumstances to coincide with the Scriptures I will be reading.
I prefer a two-year plan over a one-year plan or a few reasons. First, the pace allows me to follow the plan in a devotional manner while still allowing the reading of other passages for study. A two-year plan also allows for a balanced reading of Old Testament and New Testament books. In my plan, I read the N.T., Psalms, and Proverbs twice while reading the remainder of the O.T. once.
Although there is nothing wrong with reading the O.T. books in the order they appear, I prefer to read them chronologically. The prophetic books are read in their historical context. In the first reading of the N.T., the books are arranged chronologically, but in the second reading, I read the gospels in parallel.
(For the year 2026, I will post a daily devotional with the Bible Reading Plan, beginning with the first year of the plan.)
Year One:
Year Two:
Here is a link to the printable files:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TQs0_oejNJO8HInVlN1JmSClMhWcEbiG?usp=sharing
Highway in the Wilderness 