New Testament in a Month Challenge

A good friend of ours recently posted on Facebook that he was leading his adult Sunday School class in a challenge to read the entire New Testament in a month. I thought that was a pretty daunting challenge until I actually started reading. I was surprised at how little time it really takes. So, I have joined him. And in the process, I happened across another person online who said they had done this every month for a year at one time in the past. I like a good challenge. I'm not sure I'll do the New Testament every month for a year - I'd like to do the Old Testament in a similar time frame. We'll see. It does seem like a good way to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible - which is the only one I read.

Anyway I thought some of you might like to have the schedule for reading through the New Testament in a month, so here it is. I challenge you to read it along with me :)

1 ❑ Matthew 1-9

2 ❑ Matthew 10-15

3 ❑ Matthew 16-22

4 ❑ Matthew 23-28

5 ❑ Mark 1-8

6 ❑ Mark 9-16

7 ❑ Luke 1-6

8 ❑ Luke 7-11

9 ❑ Luke 12-18

10 ❑ Luke 19-24

11 ❑ John 1-7

12 ❑ John 8-13

13 ❑John14-21

14 ❑ Acts 1-7

15 ❑ Acts 8-14

16 ❑ Acts 15-21

17 ❑ Acts 22-28

18 ❑ Romans 1-8

19 ❑ Romans 9-16

20 ❑ 1 Corinthians 1-9

21 ❑ 1 Corinthians 10-16

22 ❑ 2 Corinthians 1-13

23 ❑ Galatians - Ephesians

24 ❑ Philippians - 2 Thessalonians

25 ❑ 1 Timothy - Philemon

26 ❑ Hebrews

27 ❑ James - 2 Peter

28 ❑1John - Jude

29 ❑ Revelation 1-11

30 ❑ Revelation 12-22

By the way, my friend didn't post the schedule until the 3rd or 4th day of the month, so I had to catch up. The first night I read all of Matthew in one sitting. What a blessing that was - to see the life of Christ from birth to resurrection all in one reading. I can already tell this is going to greatly increase my overall understanding - seeing it all in one big picture. I've read these books many times over, but not in such a short time frame.

I considered also the option of reading one book each day - in the New Testament, that would mean finishing in 27 days, which allows a day off a week, and still accomplishing the reading in a month. Some of the books are pretty long for that, but if I could make it through Matthew in one sitting, the rest ought to be a breeze. (It took me 2 1/2 hours to read Matthew, but I'm not the fastest reader out there.)

Oh, and if you're feeling really ambitious, here's a plan for reading through the New Testament in a week! :)

Monday: Matthew 1 - Mark 9
Tuesday: Mark 10 - John 6
Wednesday: John 7 - Acts 22
Thursday: Acts 23 - I Corinthians 14
Friday: I Corinthians 15 - I Thessalonians 5
Saturday: II Thessalonians 1 - I Peter 2
Sunday: I Peter 2 - Revelation 22

Even if you just read one chapter each day, I highly encourage you to be in the Word of God daily ~ its such a blessing!