Back in December, I published a post called Read Calvin’s Institutes in 90 Days (or less). Following the schedule I set up, I should finish in ninety days. I’m still going to finish in ninety days, it just won’t be ninety days in a row.
What happened? The ebb and flow of life. My father passed away in January, I’ve been busy with family, work, church, etc. As a result, I let myself get out of the habit of reading the daily passage at the time I’d set aside for it and got off track for a while.
However, I’ve now gotten back in the groove and am pursuing the reading again. Currently, per my Goodreads status, I’m 48% complete. While it’s important to approach long or weighty works like “Institutes of the Christian Religion” with a plan for reading them, it’s also important not to give up if you get off track. View your plan as a map guiding you to the next step and encouraging you to keep going, not as a taskmaster accusing you with how far off course you are. You may get sidetracked for a few days in Chicago on your way from New York to LA but as long as you get back on the road you’ll eventually get there and at the end of the journey, you’ll be glad you finished it.
If you’d like a copy of the guide I developed to plan my reading of The Institutes you can download it free here: