Binging the Bible in 7 days

Reading the Bible in a year is an admirable goal, but it's hard to keep and causes unnecasery guilt.

Don't get me wrong, I advocate for reading the Bible every day and reading all the Bible, including the tricky parts. The issue is that setting a goal starting on January 1 causes unnecessary problems.

• If you miss one day, you fail.
• Falling behind adds extra pressure.
• You can end up reading out of mindless obligation

That's why this year I'm trying a very different Bible reading goal: Binging the Bible in 7 Days.

Why binge the Bible?

I recently wrote about why it's good to read large chunks of the Bible. All those points still hold true, but there are some extra reasons its a good activity to do as a change from reading the Bible in a year.

Reading chunks helps see the overview of the bible

It's easier to see the big picture when you read more in a condensed time frame.

By binging the Bible you cram your mind full of its content and so your second system thinking can search through and find connections. This isn't the only way to achieve this effect (meditating on certain parts for long periods of time and reading different disparate parts of scripture at the same time can work too) but it is a very effective way.  

It's a limited goal, not an ongoing one

Reading the Bible every day is a goal where you don't have an easy success criteria.

Sure, you can see the task to read the whole thing in a year, but then you have a very long delay till you have any succes. Plus if you miss one day, you hit a fail state which can induce guilt.

Reading in a shorter time frame while more intese means you have fewer chances to fail. Plus you can adjust your life for that short period and readjust again afterwards. This could be 7 days, or longer.  

If you don't hit it in 7 days, you still read the Bible quickly.

A major point is that even if you take twice as long and miss half the days, you still read the whole Bible in a month!

That's an amazing achievement.

If you follow a Bible in a year plan and miss half the days, it will take you two years to read the whole thing. So by setting a goal that may be impossible, you might still achieve more than if you set a more modest goal.

Why it's a bad idea

Although I believe binge reading the Bible is good, there are some potential downsides or rather conditions when you should probably avoid this approach.

You have limited time

It takes a lot of time to read the Bible in just 7 days and not everyone has that.

The estimates I found from the Bible study magazine but Genesis to Deuteronomy at 7 and a half hours. I think that's a very fast reading pace! Using my audio bible as a guide, it predicts closer to 10 hours at double speed!

You will need a lot of time to hit this goal.

It can make reading an obligation

If you're not careful you can slip into reading just to get through a part of the Bible.

To some degree that's part of the point. If you don't get through Job, you never see how much of the book is his friends giving bad advice (and how much of that advice you hear in Church).

But if you just get through the whole thing to have got through the whole thing, you're missing out.

4 tips to help you binge the Bible

Just keep swiming...I mean reading

You don't have time to stop at every intersting part or curiosity.

The point is to get through large chunks and read the big picture which means keeping going.

If you see something interesting or have a question, leave a mark in the side and you can come back to it later. Which brings us nicely to the next point.

Read with a pen

This is an age old technique and doesn't defile the scripture or elevate your own words.

As you read leave notes in the side bar for theme and topics you see. Put an exclamation mark for an interesting point or a question mark for something you want to understand better.

You can use a highlighter but I think there are better methods for marking up a bible.

Use multiple reading sessions

It's okay to take a break.

You'll need to rest your brain and eyes from time to time too. Don't try and read in one solid reading block but break it up during the day. You can

Move around

You're going to be sat for a long time if you don't get up.

Hold a bible in your hands and move around. Use an audio bible and keep your paper one at hand to jot notes down. Go to a park and read in nature too. Don't just say sat on your couch.

Are you joining in?

If this has tempted you then I'd love for you to join in. You don't have to do it in 7 days, you could try 15 or 30 (there are a few established bible reading plans around for 30 days).

Just let me know if you decided to give it a go.