February 20th, 2025
by Yana Conner
by Yana Conner
What's Next?
How do I Engage God's Word After a One-Year Bible Reading Plan?
When I graduated from seminary, I was spiritually lost. Though my faith was still intact, I didn’t quite know how to engage it moving forward.
For five years, someone else handed me a syllabus of what to read and learn about my faith. Each paper and discussion board served as a space for me to work out my faith in the same way journaling did. Someone else picked the topics and doctrines for me to meditate on and respond to. All I had to do was run the play.
This past year, as our church read through the Bible, all we had to do was open up our Bibles and run the play. We haven’t had to pause and think about what we would read in our Bibles for twelve months. That decision was already made for us. Like a syllabus, the One Story Bible Reading Plan assigned us what we would read each day. It directed our discussions with our family members and friends and our time in prayer. It eliminated the need to think about how to plant ourselves near the streams of living water–God’s Word. The how had already been determined.
If you made your way through the One Story Bible reading plan, PRAISE GOD! I pray that it deeply enriched your faith and that you are walking away with a better understanding of God, His heart, and His purposes in the world. I pray that as a result of your journey through Genesis to Revelation, you know God more deeply and desire to follow Him more fully.
However, I imagine you may be now asking, “What’s next?” How do I continue to grow in knowing and following Jesus more? How do I engage in God’s Word moving forward? If you’re asking these questions, here are a few next steps for you to consider:
1 - Go Back to What Stuck Out
As you read through the Bible last year, there may have been some books, chapters, or verses you wanted to sit in a little longer but couldn’t. If you did, you would’ve fallen behind on the Bible reading plan. You wanted to go back later in the day to sit in the stories or truths that were stirring your heart, but time got away from you. Well, friend. Here is your opportunity to go back to those books, chapters, and verses and sit in them as long as you want. Enjoy!
2 - Go for Depth Over Breath
Last year, the goal was to take in the whole story of God. It was to get a 10,000 ft aerial view of the Bible to take in its overarching themes and plot. Now that you have this overarching view of God’s Word, it might be time to touch down somewhere specific in God’s Word to take in the sights, ask some questions of the characters, and consider how these few chapters and verses connect to the overarching themes and plot of the Bible. You can pick a book Bible to H.E.A.R. journal through, find a Bible study resource that compliments the book of the Bible or topic you’re interested in studying, or start a new Bible reading plan that takes you through a genre of the Bible (i.e., the prophets, wisdom literature, the gospels).
3 - Go for Less, Not More
After reading so much text, your soul may need less, not more. Your soul may need you to sit in one passage of Scripture daily for weeks or months. Your soul may need you to take up the spiritual discipline of meditating on small bite-sized portions of God’s Word instead of trying to take more big bites of it. If your soul needs to be reminded of the gospel, maybe you sit with Ephesians 2:1-10 every day this month, reading it slowly and allowing its truths to wash over you. If your soul needs to remember God is gracious and compassionate, maybe you pray through Psalm 103, obeying its instruction to bless the Lord with all your soul. If your soul needs to be encouraged to not live according to the world's ways but the ways of Christ’s kingdom, maybe read and re-read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 this year. Here’s a link to an article on a scripture meditative practice called Lectio Divina to help you get more as you sit with smaller portions of God’s Word.
4 - Go Back to Genesis
The Bible is the book that keeps on giving. Even though you’ve read it once, you are bound to better understand God, His heart, and His purposes in the world with each reading. Remember, it’s not a history book that provides us with pertinent facts and details surrounding the creation, the nation of Israel, Jesus, and His church. It is God’s divine living and active Word. As we read it, it read us. As we read it, it talks back to us. Depending on your season of life, the circumstances of your day, or where you are in your walk with Christ, the Spirit will open your eyes to see the truths that have always been there but missed. You didn’t necessarily miss it because you weren’t paying attention, but because the Spirit was drawing your attention to other truths. But now, the Spirit wants to read you and talk to you in new ways.
There are definitely more options for you to consider for engaging God’s Word after a one-year Bible reading plan (i.e., Scripture Memorization, but more on that next time). But I hope these ideas get you back to thinking about how God is calling you to engage in His Word moving forward. However, remember, spending time in God’s Word is not a task to complete; it’s a gift to enjoy. We don’t read God’s Word to hit some spiritual benchmark. We read God’s Word out of a desire to know God deeply and follow Him fully.
I have linked a helpful tool that we offer at Vertical Church called a H.E.A.R. Journal. This tool offers a framework for journaling through scripture for your time with God
Click Here to download a H.E.A.R. Journal Resource Guide.
Selah (To Pause and Think)
Question for Reflection
Pause to ask God to help you discern how He is calling you to engage in His Word in this season of your life and walk with Him.
5. What’s Next? How is God calling you to engage in His Word? Write out a plan as detailed as you can, identifying where you will plant yourself in God’s Word and what resources you will use to help you continue to grow in a better understanding of God, His heart, and His purposes in the world.
For five years, someone else handed me a syllabus of what to read and learn about my faith. Each paper and discussion board served as a space for me to work out my faith in the same way journaling did. Someone else picked the topics and doctrines for me to meditate on and respond to. All I had to do was run the play.
This past year, as our church read through the Bible, all we had to do was open up our Bibles and run the play. We haven’t had to pause and think about what we would read in our Bibles for twelve months. That decision was already made for us. Like a syllabus, the One Story Bible Reading Plan assigned us what we would read each day. It directed our discussions with our family members and friends and our time in prayer. It eliminated the need to think about how to plant ourselves near the streams of living water–God’s Word. The how had already been determined.
If you made your way through the One Story Bible reading plan, PRAISE GOD! I pray that it deeply enriched your faith and that you are walking away with a better understanding of God, His heart, and His purposes in the world. I pray that as a result of your journey through Genesis to Revelation, you know God more deeply and desire to follow Him more fully.
However, I imagine you may be now asking, “What’s next?” How do I continue to grow in knowing and following Jesus more? How do I engage in God’s Word moving forward? If you’re asking these questions, here are a few next steps for you to consider:
1 - Go Back to What Stuck Out
As you read through the Bible last year, there may have been some books, chapters, or verses you wanted to sit in a little longer but couldn’t. If you did, you would’ve fallen behind on the Bible reading plan. You wanted to go back later in the day to sit in the stories or truths that were stirring your heart, but time got away from you. Well, friend. Here is your opportunity to go back to those books, chapters, and verses and sit in them as long as you want. Enjoy!
2 - Go for Depth Over Breath
Last year, the goal was to take in the whole story of God. It was to get a 10,000 ft aerial view of the Bible to take in its overarching themes and plot. Now that you have this overarching view of God’s Word, it might be time to touch down somewhere specific in God’s Word to take in the sights, ask some questions of the characters, and consider how these few chapters and verses connect to the overarching themes and plot of the Bible. You can pick a book Bible to H.E.A.R. journal through, find a Bible study resource that compliments the book of the Bible or topic you’re interested in studying, or start a new Bible reading plan that takes you through a genre of the Bible (i.e., the prophets, wisdom literature, the gospels).
3 - Go for Less, Not More
After reading so much text, your soul may need less, not more. Your soul may need you to sit in one passage of Scripture daily for weeks or months. Your soul may need you to take up the spiritual discipline of meditating on small bite-sized portions of God’s Word instead of trying to take more big bites of it. If your soul needs to be reminded of the gospel, maybe you sit with Ephesians 2:1-10 every day this month, reading it slowly and allowing its truths to wash over you. If your soul needs to remember God is gracious and compassionate, maybe you pray through Psalm 103, obeying its instruction to bless the Lord with all your soul. If your soul needs to be encouraged to not live according to the world's ways but the ways of Christ’s kingdom, maybe read and re-read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 this year. Here’s a link to an article on a scripture meditative practice called Lectio Divina to help you get more as you sit with smaller portions of God’s Word.
4 - Go Back to Genesis
The Bible is the book that keeps on giving. Even though you’ve read it once, you are bound to better understand God, His heart, and His purposes in the world with each reading. Remember, it’s not a history book that provides us with pertinent facts and details surrounding the creation, the nation of Israel, Jesus, and His church. It is God’s divine living and active Word. As we read it, it read us. As we read it, it talks back to us. Depending on your season of life, the circumstances of your day, or where you are in your walk with Christ, the Spirit will open your eyes to see the truths that have always been there but missed. You didn’t necessarily miss it because you weren’t paying attention, but because the Spirit was drawing your attention to other truths. But now, the Spirit wants to read you and talk to you in new ways.
There are definitely more options for you to consider for engaging God’s Word after a one-year Bible reading plan (i.e., Scripture Memorization, but more on that next time). But I hope these ideas get you back to thinking about how God is calling you to engage in His Word moving forward. However, remember, spending time in God’s Word is not a task to complete; it’s a gift to enjoy. We don’t read God’s Word to hit some spiritual benchmark. We read God’s Word out of a desire to know God deeply and follow Him fully.
I have linked a helpful tool that we offer at Vertical Church called a H.E.A.R. Journal. This tool offers a framework for journaling through scripture for your time with God
Click Here to download a H.E.A.R. Journal Resource Guide.
Selah (To Pause and Think)
Question for Reflection
- What are 2-3 truths you learned about God as you read through the Bible last year?
- In what ways did the Bible read or talk back to you this past year?
- How has your time in God’s Word been since ending the One Story Bible reading plan?
- Of the four options provided above, which one resonates with you the most and why?
Pause to ask God to help you discern how He is calling you to engage in His Word in this season of your life and walk with Him.
5. What’s Next? How is God calling you to engage in His Word? Write out a plan as detailed as you can, identifying where you will plant yourself in God’s Word and what resources you will use to help you continue to grow in a better understanding of God, His heart, and His purposes in the world.
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