Daily Verse | Revelation 15:1
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.
Friday’s Reading: Revelation 17-19
Saturday’s Reading: Revelation 20-22
Friday and my last day of blogging in 2022.
As a follower of Christ, I try to read through the Bible each year. It’s my guide to who God is and what He intends for me in Christ.
Question: Is a daily verse and daily reading at the top of the blog helpful to you? Should I keep doing it or nah? Let me know in the comments.
I’m in the process of putting together a short course called “Bible Basics: For the Curious, the Serious and Friends of Tiberius.” During my research I came across these stats in the 2022 State of the Bible report from the American Bible Society:
Nearly four in 10 Americans say they never read the Bible outside of church services or Mass. Another two in 10 say they read it on their own no more than twice a year. That leaves another four in 10 reading on their own at least three times a year (Bible Users). Those who read daily amount to 10 percent of all Americans.
This year’s numbers show a major shift away from personal Bible reading. In the 2021 State of the Bible, there were 29 percent in the “Never” group (now 40%) and 50 percent in the Bible Users collection (now 40%).
[…]
The State of the Bible report also demonstrates what the American Bible Society describes as a “major decrease in Scripture Engagement,” which is defined as “consistent interaction with the Bible that shapes people’s choices and transforms their relationships with God, self, and others.” The estimated number of Scripture-engaged Americans dropped from 64 million in 2021 to 49 million in 2022. At the same time, the estimated number of Bible disengaged Americans rose from 100 million last year to 145 million this year.
In other words, roughly 26 million people had mostly or completely stopped reading the Bible in the last year.
A lack of Bible reading isn’t anything new to American Christians. Six years ago Lifeway Research found, “A third of Americans who attend a Protestant church regularly (32%) say they read the Bible personally every day. Around a quarter (27%) say they read it a few times a week. Fewer say they only read it once a week (12%), a few times a month (11%) or once a month (5%). Close to 1 in 8 (12%) admit they rarely or never read the Bible.”
My question is, why aren’t 100 percent of American Christians reading the Bible daily? Do they not believe it is the guide for all of life and faith? Do they not think they need to read it daily in order to benefit from it? Do they even believe they benefit from reading it? Do they think they know it all? Do they sincerely think they don’t have enough time to read it? Are there more important things to do?
My internal urgency about reading the Bible is that I don’t want to stand before the Unspeakably Holy God some day and admit that I never read the scriptures He provided to shape my thinking and obedience to Him. (I also don’t want to admit to Him that I never tried to practice what I read (I do), but that’s another topic for another day.)
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:14-17
There’s your motivation, right there — to “be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Which good works, by the way, “God prepared in advance” for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).
For the last couple of years, I’ve offered my personal One-Year Bible Reading Plan (Cover-to-Cover) to readers of this blog. I’ve done it for several years myself and have tried to tweak it each year to better accommodate the days of reading with the number of chapters required to get through it in one year. 2023 is no exception.
If you haven’t read through the Bible in a year, I encourage you to make 2023 the year you do it. Download, print, and check your progress.
Thanks for reading in 2022. See you in 2023!
Have a good weekend.
I’m definitely interested in your new course! Please keep us posted! God bless you and Barb and your family in 2023!! Sincerely Lisa
Thank you for being a supportive reader, Lisa! God bless you and yours in 2023!