Here's my plan. Consider it like a diet—a sort of "Whole 30" for Bible reading.
- Read a chapter of Ephesians everyday (6 chapters = 1/day) and then read the whole letter in one sitting on the 7th day. After 4 months of this, God's words will be "in your bones" as Jeremiah says. Seriously. You'll find that you have large portions of it memorized.
- Everyday spend time with a chunk of the text. (See your Literary Context assignment for details on how to divide the letter and/or a commentary.) Do this after reading your chapter for the day. Don't try to spend 1 day / chunk, but spend time with the chunk until you feel like you've worked through it sufficiently—similar to the level of a WB assignment or the EP assignment. I'd encourage you to keep your journal in a WB assignment with a section for secondary sources (like commentaries). You may spend 2–5 days with your chunk.
- Incorporate Lectio Divina. As part of your time with each chunk, lead off and/or finish up that passage's study with time in Lectio Divina. Instructions are in GGW and the previous course announcement.
- Alongside the previous point, purchase two of your favorite commentaries. I'd recommend Stott and Snodgrass, but there are more technical commentaries—and simpler ones, too.
- TECHNICAL COMMENTARIES: If you're studying Greek, I can't recommend Hoehner's commentary enough. It is like an applied Greek course. See also Clinton Arnold's.
- EASY-TO-READ: for any book of the Bible, consider the For Everyone series. Really helpful! Also consider Lynn Cohick's, which is something on the level of Snodgrass'.
- Commentary Survey: For any book of the Bible, knowing which commentaries are best can be daunting. Check out this survey, which I've found to be exceptional in its evaluation of commentaries. Also check out the appendix in GGW.
- Scott Duvall (GGW author) is really passionate about Bible study curriculum/workbooks. He's written one for Ephesians! This might be a worthwhile investment for you if you dive into my plan here.
- Don't go it alone.
- Join someone in a season-long journey through Ephesians. (I recommend 3–4 months!)
- Beyond the 1 chapter/day, work out a plan for the next 2 weeks. (You only need to work 2 weeks in advance.)
- Grab a meal every week with the person/group to talk through how it's going and plan the next couple of weeks.
- After deciding what your study will look like, compare notes. Push one another with grace and gentleness to do better work—because better reading is only better for us as we join in God's mission.
