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The Puritans knew their Bibles well. It is often a matter of meditation for contemporary pastors to
ponder whether or not they would be allowed in a Puritan church as a members in those days, much
less a pastor, with the knowledge they have of the Bible today. In any case, every professing
Christian should have a daily habit of Bible reading, prayer and mediation. (Yes, meditation too!)
Prayer is likened unto breathing, and Bible reading/meditation is likened unto eating. Do you
eat to live? Do you breathe to live? If you do, then you are accomplishing what the human body
requires for life. But what of the soul? Does your soul eat and breathe? Your soul is in dire need of
daily food and breath, without which, it will shrivel up and die. Spiritual declension and backsliding
are the result of neglecting to feed the soul. Little by little prayer and bible reading/meditation are put
off and other “more important” things are taken up to busy the mind, or fill up a given day. As fallen
humans, we are prone to this, even among the best Christians. We need to have a plan, a strategy,
which aids us to endeavor through each day with a structured and defined reading agenda.
Many of the Puritans read 10-15 chapters a day (they had the time–or rather, they made the time.)
The calendar here is not a schedule to read 15 chapters a day, although we should immerse
ourselves in the Word of God as much as possible. This is a schedule for reading 6 chapters a day:
3 from the Old Testament and 3 from the New Testament.
This is one schematic which may help you follow through reading the Bible in a year. After following
through on this Schedule, you will have read the Old Testament one time, and the New Testament 4
times. You will have also (in November and December) taken a more meditating approach to the
Bible to think through certain concepts by reading about that topic within one chapter of the Bible.
For instance, there are 5 days in a row in November which you will read certain key chapters on
Grace. While reading through these concept-chapters you should take time to meditate on the topic.
Some key questions to ask are these:
https://www.apuritansmind.com/bible-readings-for-the-year/