In 2020, we’ll provide a monthly reading plan centered around our blog theme for 2020: Life Connections. We wanted to go ahead and provide the January reading plan for those of you that like to print it out and have it ready for the first day of the month!
This year, as we were talking about the reading plan, we came across the Life Connections Study Bible at our coworker’s desk (hey, Ellen!). This is one of our favorite things about working with God’s Word every day—we love seeing the Bible open on desks around the office and chatting about what we have learned in Scripture with our coworkers. The Life Connections Study Bible is a new-ish Bible from the team that works on the Christian Standard Bible. It’s edited with small groups and discussions in mind, which we’re all about. It also has questions to ask your group for different passages of Scripture. What drew us in (aside from this pretty cover) were the reading plans in the front of the Bible for all kinds of life moments and situations. We’re adapting some of those reading plans for our Know His Word plan this year. You don’t have to get the Life Connections Study Bible to participate—we just wanted to cite our sources!
This first month, we compiled passages from the reading plans on spiritual basics, why we believe what we do, and healthy habits. We thought those were perfect topics to kick off a new year in the Word. Some of these passages may be familiar to you and some may be less familiar. Good questions to ask whenever reading through God’s Word are:
- What does this passage say about God?
- What does this passage say about humanity?
- How can I apply what I’ve learned in this passage to my life today?
You may not be able to answer all the questions for every verse, but thinking of those while reading even familiar passages will help you to learn the character of the God we serve.
If you love reading about the basics of our faith and what we believe and want to dive into deeper study, we recommend pre-ordering Everyday Theology. This new study by Mary Wiley walks you through basic doctrine and is perfect for both the brand-new Christian and the seasoned believer asking why theology matters.
Here is your reading plan for the month of January:
January 1 – Genesis 1:1–2:3
January 2 – Ephesians 3:14-21
January 3 – Luke 1:26-38; Colossians 1:15-23
January 6 – Acts 4:1-31
January 7 – Galatians 5:16-26
January 8 – John 3:1-21
January 9 – Romans 9:30–10:21
January 10 – Mark 15:1-15
January 13 – Ephesians 2:1-10
January 14 – John 20:24-31; 1 John 5:1-21
January 15 – Luke 19:1-10; Acts 2:42-47
January 16 – Matthew 16:13-28; Philippians 3:12–4:1
January 17 – Acts 4:32-37; Ephesians 4:1-16
January 20 – Matthew 28:1-20
January 21 – 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
January 22 – Acts 9:1-19
January 23 – Romans 8:1-17
January 24 – Luke 16:19-31; Luke 14:25-35
January 27 – Mark 1:29-39
January 28 – Matthew 6:1-18
January 29 – Acts 1:1-11
January 30 – 2 Corinthians 5:11–6:2
January 31 – Hebrews 12:1-13
We’d also love to hear what you’re learning as we read through His Word together. Share on social media with the hashtag #KnowHisWord20, so we can learn together! We’ve included an image below, featuring a verse we will read this month, perfect for Instagram.