How to Find Time to Read your Bible

Having trouble finding time to read your Bible? It’s a common complaint.  People just don’t have time to read their Bibles.  I have that problem, and most likely you do too.  Where in our busy schedules will we ever find time? Let’s be brutally honest here!  The reality is that we simply won’t always find the time.  We need to be completely upfront about that.

In my personal life, I’ve found that lack of time is a seasonal thing.  Recently I got overwhelmed with too many projects, one of which was planning my daughter’s wedding. My Bible reading suffered big time.  Elizabeth is married now, so that particular project is finished. In the aftermath, and I’m working on getting back to where I left off before life interrupted.

The truth is, there will be days and seasons when you really are too busy, or you may be sick, or you may be facing a hectic travel schedule.  Don’t beat yourself up over lack of time.

That said, here are four things that have helped me stay on track.

A Commitment

In the final analysis, everything boils down to commitment.  Do you want to read your Bible?  As soon as you commit yourself to reading the Bible, time will be easier to find (note that I said easier, which is not the same as easy).

I’ve committed myself to Bible Reader’s Creed.  Here it is again:

As God enables me, I will read my Bible, every word

in the proportion that God gave,

over and over again for the rest of my life

Notice that the creed doesn’t commit to reading the Bible every day.  That’s just too much for most of us.

A reading schedule

I always use a Bible reading schedule to keep me on track.  You can find hundreds of these on the web, and I have some <here>.  Find a schedule that suits your purposes.  If you are following one of my Let’s Read! programs, we’ll go through the Bible together following reading schedules that I have worked out.

A time schedule

Advisors will tell you to set aside a specific time each day for Bible reading and commit to it.  Well, I suppose that approach works for some people, but there are always a few renegades among us who can’t seem to pull it off.  I’m one of those.

The ideal schedule for me is to read my Bible in the morning for a half an hour or so.  If I don’t get through my entire assignment for the day, I’ll finish up the evening before I go to bed.

That’s my ideal day, but the reality is that I sometimes oversleep (horrors!) and can’t find time in the morning.  Also, I like to shake things up for variety.  Lately, I’ve been reading my Bible in the afternoons after all my other work is done.It really doesn’t matter when you read your Bible, but consistency certainly helps.

A Decision about what to give up