Reading the Bible on My Kindle
Last Christmas, Leah (the most wonderful wife in the world!) bought me a Kindle. I love it. I read from it practically every day, and have been able to get tons of free books for light reading.
But I also decided to try something new for me this year, and the Kindle helped tremendously. Instead of following a set reading plan for my personal Bible reading, I just decided to read an unspecified amount each day. I read the Bible as a piece of literature, just reading whatever I could get to each day. Sometimes it was just a handful verses, while at other times it was a dozen chapters or more.
Late last week, I finished reading the English Standard Version (which, by the way, is free on the Kindle) through in this way. I loved it!
Here are some reflections on this type of reading.
- It freed me from thinking, “I need to read 5 chapters today.” Instead, I just read what I could.
- I found myself wanting to read further each day instead of saying to myself, “Well, there are my 4 chapters today.”
- At the bottom of the Kindle, there is a line graph that shows the percentage of the book you have completed. I did refer to this sometimes, just to be sure I wasn’t way behind, but I never was behind.
- This may just be me, but I noticed more of the “literary techniques” in the Bible reading this way.
- Because of the desire to read more, I finished reading the entire Bible in less than 10 months!
Now, of course, you do not have to utilize a Kindle to read the Bible this way, but I found it to be helpful. I would recommend reading the Bible in this fashion to anyone, though. Instead of thinking you have to read a certain number of verses or chapters each day, just pick up your Bible and read God’s Word for a few minutes as you would any other book. (Except, of course, with more reverence!)
QUESTION: Have you read the Bible this way before? What were your impressions?
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Photo credit: Julien on creative commons
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6 Comments
Wes McAdams
Adam, I love this idea, brother! I get so discouraged with reading plans. I’ll fall behind and then I find myself speed reading through the text, just to get my reading “checked off”; instead of reading for understanding, comprehension, and growth. I really appreciate you sharing this, brother!
John
Yours looks like the Touch. I got one of those last year too. I don’t like the screen not being backlit. Otherwise I like it. I got the ESV Study Bible for about $10, don’t know what it is now. As you know, you can get classic works for next to nothing. Ever read any Dostoevsky? Try Brothers Karamazov some time. Here’s the daily Bible reading plan I use on the ESV: http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/daily-reading-bible/2012-11-01/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ESV-daily-reading-bible+%28ESV%3A+Hear+the+Word%E2%80%94Daily+Reading+Bible%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
You may not can bring that up, I see it has Google Reader at the end. I’ve been using Google Reader since you blogged about it a few months ago. I like it a lot, use it every day. I’m subscribed to about 30 blogs, etc. My DBR comes right in there. ESV allows you to click to have the text read to you, if you want. It’s a little slower than reading it yourself, but the reader is good: he just reads the text with no theatrics. You get OT once and NT plus Psalms twice in the year. You might blog sometime on how we pretty much ignore the Psalms. Sad.
John
I have no idea who is in that picture. That’s not me.
Adam Faughn
The one in the article photo is a stock picture. I have the regular Kindle, not the Touch. I have used a system in my reader before for Bible reading. The only thing I don’t like about it is, if I get behind, it “clogs up” my reader. Other than that, it’s a great way to read systematically.
Oh, and the picture is of me and my son. It’s my preset picture for guests 🙂
Becky
I’ve read the Bible the last 2-3 years without any particular reading plan and have always finished before the end of the year. I am though considering reading again the cronilogical Bible next year.
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