How reading through the Bible helps

As part of my devotions every year, I read through the entire Bible. I generally alternate between the NIV (which I use as my primary teaching Bible, for several reasons) and a translation I haven't read through yet. Given the market for new translations, I shouldn't run out anytime soon! I've probably read through a dozen translations or so. I've read straight through the Bible, used daily Bible reading lists with an OT/NT/Psalm reading, and read through chronologically.

Why do I continue to do this? I believe that reading through the Bible gives you a perspective that can be missed by reading only isolated passages, or even just by reading through a book of the Bible. You start to see the whole panorama of the Biblical story, and to gain an understanding of how all those assorted types of literature fit together. You find themes that are repeated and repeated, and it begins to dawn on you that maybe God thinks those events and concepts are important.

I just finished reading through 2 Chronicles. Reading through Chronicles when you read through the Bible is an eye-opening experience. Sure, it seems more like an eye-closer as you slog through all those genealogical lists at the beginning of 1 Chronicles, but even they provide some insights into the sweep of Biblical history. (Next time you read through them, notice which genealogies are given more attention than others, and watch for the little stories told about some characters.) It is the narrative choices made by the author of the Chronicles and the theological comments that makes these books live.

After you've read through Samuel and Kings, you have a good grasp of the Biblical account of the history of Israel from the time of the last judge until the Babylonian Captivity. So why did the Holy Spirit inspire another historical record in Chronicles? The study of Chronicles after Samuel/Kings lets the reader see a view of Israel and Judah from the perspective of their fidelity to the Lord and His commands. Saul gets short shrift. The northern kingdom of Israel is almost ignored. What we see is the ups and downs of the kings and the people, and how their faithfulness and obedience (or lack thereof) affected their relationship with God.

You don't get this picture reading Chronicles in isolation. It's when you take the larger, longer view that these insights start to come out. This doesn't just happen in these books, however; reading large sections of Scripture, both Old and New Testament, can open up views you may never have seen before. Even after two dozen or so read-throughs, I still find events, ideas, and insights I have missed before or forgotten.

So let me encourage you to read through the Bible. You don't have to wait until January 1st and make it some kind of resolution. Start now. Find a "one year Bible" or an online checklist (Biblestudytools.com has several good ones), or just pick up your Bible and start to read. I think you will find it a blessing beyond what you may expect.