A quick scroll on any social media platform shows me one thing about the people I follow: everyone is mapping out their goals for 2025. Some are planning diets; others are beginning new exercise regimens. (Most are doing both.) Some are making financial goals or career plans. I’ve been encouraged to see many people making plans for Bible reading. Whether it’s refreshing an old goal that slipped during 2024 or continuing what we’ve faithfully maintained, we like to use the turn of the calendar as a chance for a new start.
The Slow Down Plan
While there’s always a surge in “Bible-in-a-Year” reading plans this time of year, I’d like to offer a reading plan for those who prefer to take a slower, more meditative approach to their Bible-reading in 2025. Don’t get me wrong—a plan with daily reading throughout the whole Bible is a great plan! These plans have the advantage of giving us the whole counsel of God in a set amount of time while also building in the habit of daily reading.
That said, if you’re looking for a way to read the Bible more slowly, I’ve got just the thing for you. I jokingly call it “The Slow Down Plan” because that’s what this method does for you: it forces you to read Scripture slowly, repetitively, and carefully. I’ve been using this plan for a decade, and it works for every genre of Scripture. This is the plan I will continue to use for my Bible reading in 2025. I have a weekly Bible study that meets in my home, and the women all use the same plan so we can discuss the text each week. I’ve taught the method to women of all ages, including teens, and it’s accessible for every level of learning. You can make it as in-depth as you have time and margin for.
Before you get started, you’ll need to do a couple of things first.
Gather Your Tools
Bible, notebook, pen. (I love the ESV Study Bible, CSB, and NASB.)
Choose Your Time
Pick the time of day when you can most faithfully show up to read God’s Word and pray. For many of us this will be first thing in the morning. For others, it might be that last half hour or so before bed. Or, you might choose your lunch break at work or your baby’s mid-morning naptime.
Pick Your Place
Put all your tools in one place, including a place for your coffee if you drink it and reading glasses if you wear them. Once you make your decision of time and place and have collected your tools, you only need to show up to your Bible-reading time as planned.
Begin the Plan
First, choose a book you’d like to read through. If you’re not sure where to begin, I’d like to suggest the gospel of John or the book of James. The first week of the year, read through the book as many times as you can. If you choose John, you might only get through it once. You could get through James three or four times since it’s only five chapters. The next week, start with chapter one and choose a portion to read. That might be John 1:1-14 or James 1:1-10. On day one, read the passage and follow the first step below. Day two, read the passage again and take the second step. Keep doing this until you’ve finished all six steps. You’ll notice you’ve got an extra day to catch up if you miss a day or to simply pray through the text and think about what you’ve learned.
The following week, move to the next portion of the text and repeat all the steps, one per day. Keep going until you finish the book. The symbols for the steps below simply keep you from having to write out each step each day. The process will come very naturally after a few weeks, I promise!
Step 1: Make a general summary statement about the text. Write down what you think the passage is about. This can be a sentence or a paragraph—it’s up to you.
Step 2: What does this teach me about God? This is His book, His story. It’s wise to always begin with Him. We’re tempted to rush to application, but we can’t know ourselves or how to live without first knowing who God is.
Step 3: What does this teach me about man? We learn a lot about humanity and our desperate need for Jesus from God’s Word! The Bible always tells the truth about who we are. Depending on where you are in the text, you might be jotting things down about the depravity of man, or you might be looking at the intrinsic value of human life as image-bearers of God. Or, you might be comparing the differences between the old man and the new creature in Christ. Resist the urge to personalize the text for now.
Step 4: What does this teach me about Jesus? He’s in all of Scripture, so don’t skip this step if you’re in the Old Testament! We must view Scripture with a gospel lens. If you struggle to see Jesus in an Old Testament passage, look at the passage with the gospel arc and see where the themes fall: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
Step 5: How can I apply this to my life? God’s Word is useful for teaching, training, correction, and more. If we want to live a Scripture-shaped life, we must seek to obey God’s commands. Now that you’ve viewed the passage through the lens of God and the gospel, you can personalize the text without treading into heretical or man-centric waters. We must apply God’s Word, but we want to do it in proper view of Him and His redemptive story.
Step 6: Make another general summary statement. It might feel redundant, but you’ll see how you’ve grown in your understanding of the text over the week, and you’ll have a concise way to talk about what you’ve learned with others. We don’t just study God’s Word to gain knowledge. We study to know Him and make Him known! Once you start making summary statements about what you’ve read, you’ll find that the text comes up in your conversations over and over.
Keep Going
Continue the steps for each chapter until you finish the book. Then choose a new book and start over! Bible reading isn’t a race. It’s all about the journey of studying, praying, meditating, learning, digging, and growing in our love for God. We’ll never graduate from our need for Scripture, and we’ll never run out of new things to learn about our faithful, sovereign God. His Word is a treasure and a lifeline. As you make plans to reset and refresh your habits in 2025, make daily time in God’s Word a non-negotiable. We don’t read God’s Word to tick a box or feel accomplished but to be rooted in the nourishing words of the Lord. To stand firm in adversity. To hold up under trials. To speak the hope of Jesus to others. To grow in our knowledge of and love for God and to be so certain of His love for us.
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
