I have another date with my Bible.
Actually, I have two dates: Oct. 1, when I plan to begin working toward a new goal, and May 31, when I hope to finish.
Not finish reading the Bible forever, mind you. I hope never to do that. But I would like to reach a point where I can say I have read every book in the Bible in its entirety at least once.
I’m almost there.
In January 2025, I told readers I was challenging myself to read – and study – one chapter of Proverbs each day. The calendar made that easy: 31 chapters, 31 days. Some of you decided to join me.
Then I noticed another convenient bit of arithmetic. Psalms contains 150 chapters, and from Feb. 1 through June 30 there are 150 days. So I set another goal. One reader told me she was taking that journey with me, and on June 30, both of us could say we had made it through all 150.
This summer I wasn’t nearly so clever with the calendar. The goal was simply to study three books I’d never studied completely: Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.
“Study” is important there. Merely moving my eyes across enough words to say that I’ve read something isn’t what I’m after. I want to learn something while I’m there.
And I did.
Lamentations was especially meaningful after recent Bible Study Fellowship lessons had taken me through events surrounding Israel’s captivity and return. Our congregation’s Wednesday night Bible class recently completed the life of David, and lately we have been going through the Minor Prophets. That has been a good follow-up to what I’ve learned in BSF.
This year, BSF will go in a different direction as we explore Romans.
One of the things I’ve learned from all this studying is that the more Bible I know, the more other parts of the Bible make sense. People, places, kings, prophets, captivities and promises that once seemed disconnected begin fitting together.
I’ve spent a lifetime reading and studying the Bible but – as noted – there are still a few books I’ve never read from beginning to end. I’ve never read all of I Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Job, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. I’ve studied fairly large portions of every one of them, but I can’t honestly put a check beside any of them and say, “Yes, I’ve read the whole thing.”
And I want to.
So I’m starting over on these books.
On Oct. 1, I plan to begin with I Kings and work my way through those remaining books, chapter by chapter. There are 229 chapters altogether. My target date is May 31, 2027, which is a full month ahead of June 30, the finish line for my Psalms challenge two years before that.
That schedule gives me some breathing room. There are more days than chapters, which is actually good – because this is supposed to be Bible study, not a race.
Why does finishing matter to me?
Well, for one thing, I would like to read the entire Bible before I die and go to heaven.
I can just imagine running into Ezekiel.
“Oopsie. My bad. I never did finish your book. Sorry about that.”
I don’t really think Ezekiel is going to quiz me on all 48 chapters. And certainly reading every chapter of the Bible isn’t a requirement for heaven. It’s simply something I want to do.
But here’s the important part. I don’t want finishing the Bible to mean I’m finished with the Bible.
There will still be books to reread, passages to reconsider, connections to discover and truths to understand more deeply. If anything, every year of study shows me how much more there is to learn.
So Oct. 1, I’ll begin again. And if you’d like to come along, you’ve got until May 31.
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Sallie Rose Hollis lives in Ruston and retired from Louisiana Tech as an associate professor of journalism and the assistant director of the News Bureau. She can be contacted at sallierose@mail.com.
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