TAKE TEN for Teens

Last week I was away at teen camp with our church. It was a wonderful week! The time spent talking with these young adults was truly encouraging.

I noticed that amid the major themes taught and preached this week there ran concurrently the minor theme of time management. This led to small group discussions about reading the Bible and prayer. One night a young lady told me that she had begun the year by using the Bible reading plan but that after a few days she got discouraged and stopped. This surprised me for two reasons.

1. It only takes about 10 minutes each day to read the assignment.
2. There was a teenager interested in reading through the Bible!!!!

After thinking and praying about this I asked myself the following questions.

1. It only takes me about 10 minutes but what if the person is not a good reader?
2. I've made customized reading plans for 12 month and 18 month studies available to adults so why not customize one for younger readers?

The first question is not meant as a criticism. It is merely stating a fact that a young teen that is closer to her elementary school years than her college ones might not read as well or as quickly as an older teen whose abilities more closely resemble those of an adult. The teen years cover a rather broad spectrum; likewise for reading abilities. The girls in my group covered both ends of the spectrum. Some were nearing high school graduation and others are in junior high.

The second question is easily answered. No reason why not! I'll do it! Do you know anyone who would like to receive this schedule? Let me know and I'll see that they get it.


Here's how it works: If you attend my church and would like hard copies they will be available upon request. If you would like to receive them by weekly email contact me. The introductory letter and week 1 assignment are shown below. (For the sake of avoiding confusion with the normal reading schedule the following weeks will not be posted here and Week 1 is shown as an example only.)

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INTRODUCTORY LETTER

Welcome to TAKE TEN for TEENS! The name TAKE TEN comes from the goal I set years ago to make a Bible reading plan that would take the average adult reader a year to read through the entire Bible by reading about 10 minutes each day Monday through Saturday. There is no reading assignment on Sunday because that is the day we go to church. Like the adult plan, this one is meant to take about 10 minutes of reading time Adding prayer, reviewing a memory verse, and meditating upon(thinking about) the passage of scripture will take more time but will help God’s Word to be applied to your life. I don’t know how long it will take to read the complete Bible using this plan but we’ll keep going until we’re done! And that’s the key: reading a little bit each day until the whole Bible has been read from beginning to end.

You will receive a weekly assignment each weekend for the following week. Each assignment will include a page that you can print and keep in a journal or you may use notebook paper if you prefer. The important part is not the paper, but that you document your notes and prayer requests. You’ll want to keep this journal for future reference so that you can see how God answered your prayers.

Next to each reading assignment there is a blank line where you should record anything that you found interesting, encouraging, or is a command that you should follow. If you will do this it will help you grow spiritually. It isn’t enough to just read the passage. You should learn from it, too!

I look forward to helping you learn more about our wonderful God by reading His written Word! Are you ready to begin? Let’s get started!



P.S. If you have friends who would like to be added to my email list have them contact me. The reading plan can be started at any time because it is not dated.

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TAKE TEN FOR TEENS

Week 1 Assignment

Bible Reading Schedule

Introduction: Everything has a beginning, or an origin, except God. In the Bible, the beginning book is Genesis. This week you will be reading about the beginning of our universe. Notice how in one week we go from reading “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) to “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6)

Can you use the numbers given for the age of each generation in chapters 5 and 6 to figure out how old the world was when God sent the flood? (If you want to know, ask me. I’ll tell you.)

Monday – Genesis 1:1-2:3_________________________________________________________

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Tuesday – Genesis 2:4-3:13________________________________________________________

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Wednesday – Genesis 3:14-4:24____________________________________________________

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Thursday – Genesis 4:25-5:32______________________________________________________

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Friday – Genesis 6:1-7:10_________________________________________________________

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Saturday – Genesis 7:11-8:19______________________________________________________

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Memory Verse – Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Prayer Journal - Each day close your reading with prayers that follow the ACTS format of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication (requests)

ADORATION – This week take time to praise God each day for being such an awesome Creator!

CONFESSION – Ask God to forgive you each day of the sins you’ve committed recently. Be specific. No one else needs to know these but God already knows about them so tell Him that you are sorry for each one as it comes to mind.

THANKSGIVING – Thank God for his beautiful world! Thank Him for the certain parts of His creation that you particularly like (for instance, I enjoy looking at the stars). Thank Him also for physically keeping Noah and family safe in the ark. Thank Him for physically keeping you safe each day and for spiritually keeping you safe for eternity. Has He recently answered any of your prayer requests? Thank Him for those answers!

SUPPLICATION – What are your prayer requests this week? List them below and pray for them each day:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

MAKE NOTE OF ANY ANSWERS!

Putting God’s Word into Action

What can you do this week to care for God’s creation? (God calls that “having dominion over” in Genesis 1:26, 28.) Taking care of your animals, birds, or fish is pleasing to God so remember to do your chores.