So how are you and your family doing with the twelve month challenge to start living more like Jesus? Have you started having family devotionals? Has everyone found a Bible reading plan that meets their needs? Have you found some great songs to help you memorize scripture?
Finding a Bible reading plan for older children and teens can be a challenge. Many young people struggle with the standard “reading through the Bible in a year” or even the “chronological Bible” plans which adults usually prefer. Children start out the year fine, as those first days are the stories in Genesis they have heard most of their lives. As soon as the genealogies and law lists start though, their eyes glaze over and they give up on Bible reading.
So what does work for this age group? There are actually several options we have found that have worked for us over the years. The first is to find a good children’s Bible. Our favorite was the Student Discovery Bible: A Journey through God’s Word. It gave a simplified, but thorough telling of the main stories in the Bible. What I loved though, was that each page had additional helpful information on geography, customs and other things that would add to the child’s understanding of the text.
If you have teens in your house, there are student Bibles similar to the one above, except they are complete Bibles. Many of them have suggested reading plans in the back. My daughter is currently reading a chapter of Proverbs each day corresponding to the date (Proverbs chapter 15 on January 15, etc.). She says she has also enjoyed reading through the Gospels and hopes this year to start in Acts and read through the entire New Testament.
As for me, I have learned a couple of very important things to help keep my personal Bible reading on track. First, I need to do it first thing in the morning or I forget. (and sometimes even then I almost forget!). Secondly, I cannot skip days or I won’t make it. It is just too hard for me to keep up a habit if I start allowing myself to take days off. Realistically, I know it will happen sometimes, but I can’t let myself take off every weekend like I used to do in the past. I find it is harder to catch up and then I get so far behind, I get discouraged. (My suggestion is that if you find yourself in that place, don’t try to catch up, just pick up where the plan would have you reading that date.)
Please let me know in the comments below how you are doing. Have you found a particular devotional book your family enjoys? Is there a Bible reading plan your children love? How about you personally? What are the most helpful reading plans to you? I am sure others would like to hear what has worked for you as well. In the meantime, keep reading and “devo-ing” and I’ll touch base with you again at the end of the month and let you know how we have done this first month of our 12 month plan for living more like Jesus!
The link in this post is an affiliate link. Should you purchase through the link, this blog will receive a small compensation. (It will not increase your costs in any way.) I am totally honest though and would not suggest this book if we did not truly love it ourselves.