Take Up and Read: Choosing a Bible Plan for 2026
Shaped by the Word
When I think about the most godly women I’ve known, one thing has shaped them all, and it isn’t podcasts or pilates or paleo diets. They are all women of God’s word. They read it regularly. They live in light of it. They know it by heart. Why are they such word-centered women? They are word-centered, because they are God-centered. Through God’s word, they come to know and love God more.
These godly women in our lives may have had opportunities for growth that we just don’t have. Some come from generations of strong, God-exalting Christians. Others have had opportunities for biblical or theological training. Many have passed through the crucible of suffering in ways we never will. But all of us have the same access to God’s word that they do.
We all want to be women of the Word. Sometimes we forget that we can be women of the word. All we need to do is what St. Augustine did: take up and read. The door to knowing God in his word is wide open to everyone. So as we close the books on 2025 and look ahead to 2026, let’s resolve to make Bible reading a regular habit, as Pastor David Mathis exhorted us on Sunday.
Why Use a Bible Reading Plan?
There are only two ways to fail at Bible reading: first, never start; second, quit. Choosing a Bible plan is a great way to avoid these potential failures. A plan offers us a place to start and a regular path to follow. Sometimes the all-too-familiar pattern of always starting plans but rarely finishing them leaves us skeptical of the whole idea. But this is actually what makes plans so amazing. They are right there waiting for us to pick up where we left off.
Bible reading drift threatens us all. On a busy weekend, we might miss a day or two. Then we miss some more when sickness strikes. Before we know it, we can’t remember the last time we cracked open our Bible. Don’t let that discourage you. It doesn’t matter how many days we’ve neglected our Bible reading. What matters is taking it up again. And again. When we open our Bible today and pick up where we left off, we’re succeeding. Once again we’re choosing to be shaped by God’s word, in order that we, like other godly women, might grow to know and love God more.
Though we may drift out of Bible reading, we will never drift into it. Heart-shaping habits require resolve and intention. Choosing a plan is a way to say, “In 2026, by God’s grace and with God’s help, I intend to seek God in his word.” It doesn’t have to be the whole Bible in a year. It might not be every day. But aim for relatively consistent intake, and the more consistent, the better. I encourage you to find a plan that works for you, and that you will keep going back to, even if you get off track for a season.
May the Lord fulfill our every resolve for good (2 Thess. 1:11).
Sisters, let’s take up and read!
Resources:
Need help picking a plan? Check out these Bible reading plans and resources!
Navigators Bible-in-a-Year Plan (This plan has four readings a day, two NT and two OT)
Navigators Book-at-a-Time Plan (This plan will also take you through the Bible in a year, simplified to two readings a day, alternating between OT and NT books. This plan works well for moms of young ones. You can easily break up the two readings over two days and take two years to complete this plan.)
Navigators Five-Day New Testament Plan (This plan will take you through the NT in one year, reading five days a week. This plan works well for anyone new to Bible reading, or who just knows their limits in this season.)
Melissa Kruger’s Favorite Bible Reading Plan via TGC (Melissa offers excellent advice and resources, along with sharing her favorite chronological-based Bible plan.)
Jon and Andrea’s Bible Reading Plan (Following this six-day/week, two-year plan, you will read the OT once and the NT twice . This plan leaves time for slow meditation, while still working through the Bible systematically.)