I’m not proud of this, but here we go.
I have started Bible-in-a-Year plans twice in my
adult life and quit both of them. Once around the end of February. Once
in April, when I was actually proud of how far I’d gotten — and then I
missed three days, and then a week, and then I just… stopped opening the
PDF.
The third time, something different happened. I finished. And then I
built a small Bible study company with my husband and our kids so that
other people who have quit twice could try again with a plan that
actually fits how a real human reads.
Here are the seven things that derailed me the first two times — and
the changes that made the third time stick. If you’ve ever quietly
closed a reading plan tab and felt the small guilt of it, this one is
for you.
Mistake
1: I picked the most ambitious plan I could find
The first plan I tried was a chronological reading plan that
re-ordered the Bible by the historical date of the events described. It
was intellectually fascinating. I lasted six weeks.
The problem wasn’t the plan. The plan was beautiful. The problem was
that I’d never read the Bible cover-to-cover even once, and I
jumped into a plan designed for people on their fourth pass. I was so
worried about doing it the “best” way that I picked something that
wasn’t right for me.
What I do now: Pick the simplest plan that matches
where you actually are. If you’ve never finished the Bible, “Genesis to
Revelation in order” is honestly fine. The exotic plan can be year
two.
Mistake 2: I started in
January
January is the worst month to start a year-long discipline. The
holidays just ended. Your routine is rebuilding. You’re working through
a list of resolutions that the gym, the new diet, the meditation app,
the journal, and the language-learning app are all also competing
for.
By February the Bible plan was just another tab in the New Year’s
failure pile.
What I do now: Start whenever. The third time, I
started in April for no particular reason except that I was ready. The
year-long arc doesn’t care which calendar month is Day 1.
Mistake 3:
I treated “missed a day” as “broke the streak”
This is the one that quietly killed both attempts. I’d miss one day.
Then I’d open the schedule and see Day 47 staring at me and think
I’m a day behind. Then I’d try to do two days at once and feel
rushed and resentful. Then I’d miss another day. Then I was three
behind. Then I was a week behind. Then I quit.
The streak isn’t the goal. The text is the goal.
What I do now: When I miss, I just keep reading from
where I was. If I’m five days behind by July, I’m five days behind. I’ll
either catch up on a slow weekend or I’ll finish on January 5th of the
next year instead of December 31st. The world is fine.
Mistake 4: I read
like I was checking a box
Bible reading became a thing I did to my morning, not
in my morning. Five minutes, half-asleep, eyes on the page but
mind on the day. By the time I closed the PDF I couldn’t have told you
what passage I’d just read.
This isn’t disrespectful — it’s just not reading. It’s the same thing
as scrolling.
What I do now: I read with a pen and a small
notebook. One verse a day gets written down, longhand. Not because the
writing is important, but because the writing slows me. I can’t
write down what I haven’t actually read.
Mistake 5: I had no
rhythm except “every day”
“Every day” sounds disciplined, but it’s actually the loosest
possible structure. Every day means no special day. No anchor.
What I do now: Sunday is the anchor. Sunday morning
I read more than my daily portion — maybe 30 minutes, with a cup of
coffee, slowly. The rest of the week I’m just maintaining what Sunday
set. If a weekday gets blown out, Sunday still happens, and the rhythm
holds.
Mistake 6: I was alone with
it
Both of my failed attempts were solo. Just me and a PDF.
The third time, I told two friends what I was doing. We didn’t read
the same plan or even the same translation. We just texted each other
once a week — “where are you?” “still at it?” “this week was a slog,
you?” That tiny accountability was the difference.
What I do now: Tell someone. Doesn’t have to be a
Bible study group. Doesn’t have to be your spouse. Doesn’t have to be
daily check-ins. One person who knows you’re doing it and will ask about
it once in a while is enough.
Mistake
7: I picked a translation that was working against me
I started with a translation that I’d inherited — it was on my shelf,
it was free, fine. But the language was 400 years removed from how I
think, and every paragraph cost me extra effort. By April I was fighting
the translation, not the content.
What I do now: I use the Berean Standard Bible
(BSB). It’s modern English, accurate to the original manuscripts, and —
bonus — it’s public domain so it costs nothing. Whatever translation you
pick, pick one that reads cleanly for you. The “best”
translation is the one you’ll actually open.
What finally worked, in
one paragraph
The third year I picked a simple Alternating Weeks plan (one week OT,
one week NT), started in April with no fanfare, gave myself permission
to fall behind without guilt, kept a small notebook with one verse a
day, anchored on Sunday mornings, texted two friends, and used a
translation I could actually read. I finished in March of the next year
— three months late and not caring at all.
How DiviNav exists because
of this
When my husband Robert and I started DiviNav, we built three
different Bible-in-a-Year reading plans instead of one —
because the right plan depends on the reader, and we couldn’t
have told you in advance which one would stick.
- Bible in Order — for people who want the whole
story, in sequence - Daily OT + NT Mix — for people who can’t wait nine
months for the Gospels - Alternating Weeks — for people who need rhythm and
reset (this is mine)
All three use the BSB. All three are designed for people who have
started and stopped before. All three include a free first month so you
can try the rhythm before you commit.
You can grab a free sample of any of them here.
No payment, no signup wall — just the first month’s pages and the
journal companion, sent to your inbox.
The closing thing I want
you to know
If you’ve quit before, you’re not undisciplined. You’re not “just not
a Bible reader.” You’re a normal person who picked a tool that didn’t
fit and then blamed yourself for the tool’s mistake.
Try again. Try a smaller plan. Try a different month. Tell someone.
Pick up a notebook. Use a translation that doesn’t fight you.
The first day of the next attempt is the only day that matters.
— Mindi DiviNav · A family of believers, Donnelly, Idaho
Want to try the third-time-stuck plan? Sample any of our three
plans, free, no payment: start
here →