My Bible Tracker

I don’t know why this app isn’t used by more people, such is a shame. As the other review indicates, using a plan can create a false sense of need to check off the day. It can rub the risk of turning studying God’s word into a legalistic, check the box, goal. Now, as God’s word doesn’t come back void, I am happy if people are reading at all. That being said, I am a huge advocate of just freely reading. Some mornings I read and get caught up on one verse for the entire study that morning. Maybe one morning I spend my entire time praying. Maybe another I end up reading a whole book or a couple of dozen chapters. Maybe I want to read the next Psalm or Proverb. This app is a great resource to track what I have read, where I am in my Old and New Testament book, and what my overall Bible read percentage is to make sure I am still on track for reading the Bible in a year. I follow a specific reading pattern which works quite well: OT book, NT book, OT book, etc. I do them in order so: Genesis, Matthew, Exodus, Mark, ext. It works out to where, after revelation you only have a handful of minor prophets to read at the end of the year. While following this pattern I use the app to make sure I am reading enough to read the Bible in a year. I also read a psalm or proverb so by the time I get to those books I don’t just read them through because I have already read them a chapter at a time each morning (a prayer through a psalm is a great way to start a study). I have done it that way for three years. Next year, because I can track it better with this app, I will go out of order but keep my OT and NT flip flop pattern. This app works great for that!!

I love this app. It works simply and doesn’t have a bunch of unnecessary and complicated features to clutter it up. The UI is very clean and easy to use. I like that you can have multiple trackers to meet you goals. If I were to add anything it would be the ability to swipe left and right from within a book. For example, if I’ve tracked my reading in Psalms and want to move on to Proverbs, it would be nice to swipe to the left as if changing a page. Currently i would have go into Psalms, check off my reading, back out of Psalms, go into Proverbs, and then check off my reading. Not a big deal.

I have always struggled with being consistent in my Bible reading. I’ve tried everything to beat my ADHD and perfectionism. Reading plans/calendars, accountability partners, “streaks” on YouVersion, Bible journaling, you name it... I always fell out of the habit once I missed a day or felt like I couldn’t do it well enough. This app allows me to go at my own pace and pick back up where I left off without a big unchecked box staring me down. I love the positive reenforcement of the badges and getting to watch that percentage go up. It reminds me that progress is so much better than perfect. The concept is so simple, but it WORKS. I’ve never been in the Word so much in my life. This app is truly an answer to prayer.