Bible Shred 2022 Tips
Each year I like to challenge myself with the Bible Shred 30 Day Reading Plan.
In a previous article post “Reading the Whole Bible In 1 Month?” I explain what the Bible Shred is, and what I believe you can get out of it.
Here are 5 tips that have helped me get the most out of this reading plan that I think may help you too!
1) Two Hours Of Reading A Day
If you read at an average speed like myself, it’ll likely take you 2-3 hours of reading a day to complete the allocated books and chapters.
I’ve found it’s best to aim for a total of 2 hours of reading day. This doesn’t mean I sit down for 2 consecutive hours, but this is accumulated throughout the day (30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunch, 10 minute snippets throughout the day, 30 minutes at the end of the day).
This may seem like a lot of time, but in a previous post “The Ultimate Selfie Filter” I explore how you can use some iOS features to find out how much potential time you’re wasting and could use for something like this.
2) Aim For Psalms
Normally by end of the 1st week it feels tricky - you’ve hit the less exciting books of Leviticus and Numbers and it becomes more of a chore. Then you may skip some days, get behind a few books, become overwhelmed, so just give up.
I aim to get to Psalms. They’re close to the halfway point and they’re good fun to read.
If you can get there, you would’ve built up enough mental momentum to keep going and get through the rest of the Bible.
3) DON’T Meditate
This may seem like a contradiction to what I often write about, but this whole reading plan is a sprint.
You may feel the tendency to slow down and meditate at some points, but that will slow down your reading.
Instead, highlight or take note of those points of interest so that you can come back to them later.
4) Highlight, Highlight, Highlight
As you’re reading, its really helpful to highlight as you go along.
I take 3 types of highlights:
Observations (green highlight) - what is a point of interest or observation about this section you’re reading.
Questions (red highlight) - what is confusing or something to study and explore later.
Links (blue highlight) - what is another part of Bible that you think may be connected to what you’re reading; either thematically, verbally or textually.
At the end of this project, you should have a good amount of highlights that you can use to create study plans and see what you’ve learnt.
What is also interesting is comparing highlights and notes from previous years to this if it is a reading plan you’ve completed before.
5) Do It Together
Try and find a group of people to do this with. Don’t make it a competition or a race, but be honest and authentic when you’re getting behind.
Share a daily update with this group, and keep it fun.
Celebrate what you’ve learnt and how much you’ve grown.
The goal is to complete the reading plan, even if it takes longer than expected.
If you blow out and it takes twice as long, you’ve still accomplished something great and read the whole Bible in 60 days.
Even if you blow out and it takes three times as long, you would’ve read the whole Bible in 90 days.
Praying and believing that as challenging as this gets, its a growing experience that helps you encounter God in your world!