Are you looking for the best Bible reading plan for busy believers? There are two things we can know for sure about everybody reading this:
- Getting into God’s Word is crucial if you want to have a relationship with Him.
- You are busy.
A quick Google search will reveal hundreds of different ways people tackle both of these truths at once. You’ll find Bible reading plans that break Scripture up into one-chapter chunks starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation over a five-year period. You’ll find chronological reading plans, that let you read through the entire Scriptural narrative from beginning to end. You’ll find thematic reading plans, that take you through passages of Scripture dealing with the different topics and themes the Bible tackles.
When it comes down to it,
any plan you pick is good, so long as it gets you into the Word. But we have two options for you to consider that we think will be extremely beneficial and simple to follow as you either start your Christian journey or continue one you’ve been on for years.
We call them the
F-260 and the
New Testament F260. These are specifically designed for busy believers who want to make the Word an integral part of their day. Let’s see what each of them looks like.
F-260
The F-260 is a 260-day reading plan that will take a reader through the entire metanarrative of Scripture in one year. We created this plan by examining each book of the Bible, the story it tells, the truths it tells about God, and the most streamlined way we as disciples can read all of it in a year’s time.
We think it’s the best Bible reading plan for busy believers who want a complete overview of scripture.
It is divided up into five sections of Scripture a week (so that you have weekends off—or even so you can use the weekends to catch up on reading that you missed during the week), each week during the year. It begins in Genesis and works through each book of the Bible in turn, highlighting important moments and key passages in the story of God’s revelation to humanity.
Each of the readings is no longer than two chapters, because the emphasis in this plan is not on taking in a massive amount of information at one time, but rather on digesting the information that you read.
In addition to the reading, each week also provides memory verses—sometimes from the passages you read during the week, sometimes from a different place in Scripture that references them. Some may want to tackle both verses in a week, others will choose to just do one at a time, leaving the second for the next year when you begin reading again. There’s no right option; we simply want to encourage you to hide His Word in your heart.
Download PDF: F-260 Reading Plan
YouVersion Bible App
New Testament F-260
The NT-260 was inspired when we realized something interesting: there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. We created the NT-260 with the same principle that the F-260 was based on: five readings a week, each week of the year. But the NT-260 is structured in an innovative way.
As you read through the NT-260, you begin like you’d begin a journey, starting with Luke’s books: Luke and Acts. Then, when Paul begins taking missionary journeys in Acts, we read each letter he wrote to the churches he visited, planted, or prayed for as he encounters them. From there, as you follow the reading plan, the entire story of the New Testament begins to take shape.
Practically speaking, the NT-260 works the same way the F-260 does: five days of reading a week, two days off. But with the NT-260’s memorization is a little bit different. Rather than memorizing a smattering of verses here and there, by the end of the reading plan, you will have memorized Jesus’ entire Sermon on the Mount.
Download PDF: NT-260 Reading Plan
Subscribe on YouVersion Bible App
How to Read Effectively
No matter which plan you decide to read, we recommend an active reading method called H.E.A.R journaling. A H.E.A.R. journal is a short reflection on one verse that you read that day that encourages understanding, application, and response. The H.E.A.R. method looks like this:
Highlight a verse that stuck out to you during your reading.
Explain what the verse means in its context.
Apply the truth you discovered in Scripture to your life.
Respond to God with a prayer or an action step you can focus on.
You can see a sample H.E.A.R. journal entry
here.
There’s nothing inherently special about either of these plans. When it comes down to it, the best reading plan is simply the one that will get you into the Word. But as we approach a new year, perhaps you will consider using one of these and encouraging your D-Groups to do the same. Now is the perfect time to start getting into the Word until the Word gets into you. We built these plans to be the best Bible reading plans for busy believers, and we can’t wait to hear how God uses it in your life.
We also offer the plans as books you can purchase. There are options for adults, teens, and kids. Click the cover to learn more and find links to purchase.
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