I Read the Entire Bible in 60 Days. Here’s How It Went.

Mandy Youtz

I just finished reading the entire Bible in 60 days. It might sound crazy but I promise – it’s not.

Did you know it only takes an average of 70-80 hours to read through all 66 books of the Bible? That means that you can read it in two months with just over an hour per day.

Compare that to the amount of time it takes to binge your favorite TV or movie series and it’s really not that bad. (It takes over 99 hours to watch all the episodes of the Office – just saying!)

Why I Decided To Read the Bible in 60 Days

I chose to read the Bible in two months because I wanted to get the whole picture of the Bible in a short time frame. I also wanted to create discipline and habit around my scripture reading. And I loved the idea of my kids seeing me reading the Bible more!

I followed a reading plan from a book called Power Read the Bible by Jeff Anderson. In the book, Jeff talks about some of the reasons you might choose to read the Bible in 60 days. Here are those reasons in his words:

• “Big goals are more appealing and engage our hearts
• Gain familiarity with the Bible’s big picture
• Make the Bible ‘smaller’
• Wake up your soul when you need a spiritual boost
• Kick that feeling of guilt that you don’t know the Bible like you wish you did
• Put the Bible back at the center of your home (you will carry your Bible around all the time for 60 days)
• Your family will see you in God’s word
• A spiritual detox is good for us (time away from media, etc.)
• Show God you’re hungry and you want to better understand His word”

My Scripture Reading Routine

To fit in all my reading, I had to create a routine that worked with my life. Most mornings, I woke up early and tried to get in an hour of reading. Then, if I needed more time, I would find it in small pockets during the day. Sometimes I was reading on my phone in a waiting room or in the school pick up line. Other times I finished my reading while my kids were playing outside, watching TV, or reading next to me.

I also multitasked at times and listened to an audio version of scripture. (Whenever I went this route, I made sure to return to the text to look it over and highlight anything that stood out to me.)

There were times when I wanted to slow down and meditate on the passage that I had just read but I didn’t do this often because I wanted to stay on pace. I did make notes of books/passages that I want to return to study in-depth in the future!

The Result

I wrapped up my Bible reading on July 3rd. I had just studied Revelation with the Women’s Ministry in the spring. Reading it again – this time with the context of the previous 65 books – was powerful! Here are some other things I experienced as a result of this undertaking:

I connected with God on a deeper level.

The biggest reason we have for reading the Bible is to know God. After all, He’s the one it’s all about, right? Increasing my scripture reading time each day connected me with God and helped me to learn more about Him – including His character, His heart for His people, and His amazing plan of salvation.

I understood the bigger picture of the Bible more than ever before.

Like most of us, I heard Bible stories growing up, but they always felt disconnected. While each of these stories is powerful in its own way, we often miss the big picture, which is how each of these individual stories fit together into the grand narrative of scripture. Reading the Bible in a short period of time helped me to see the metanarrative of scripture more clearly than I ever did before!

I realized I have more time to read scripture than I thought.

The most surprising thing that happened over these two months was my mindset change. I used to think it was difficult to find time to read the Bible. I sometimes spent weeks working through a single book, reading only a chapter or two a day. While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, this experience showed me that I can read more in a day than I previously realized.

With scripture reading as my priority, I automatically had to cut down on other distractions, such as social media. As a result, I increased my capacity to read – meaning, I realized I am capable of reading much more in a single sitting than I ever thought possible.

You Can Do It Too!

If I can read the Bible in 60 days, I promise you can too. It just takes commitment and some discipline (plus a little grace).

If you want to increase the amount of time you spend in the Bible, an intense reading plan like this is a great way to do that but it’s certainly not the only way. Find a plan that works for you (there are tons online) or create your own. Don’t be afraid to stretch yourself a bit and do a little more than you think is possible!

Here are some other tips:

• Pick a specific time of day to read each day
• Write out scripture in a journal
• Listen to audio versions while you do other tasks
• Set reminders to read throughout the day
• Limit distractions (silence your phone, turn off the TV, etc.)
• Pair it with another habit (like drinking coffee in the morning)
• Get an accountability partner to help you stay on track
• Make it a family activity
• Keep going until it’s a habit!

Whether or not you choose to read the Bible in 60 days, let’s all be committed to spending more time in God’s Word. If we have the time to watch TV or scroll through social media, we have the time to hear from the Lord.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4