For the next few weeks we are going to be reviewing different Bible reading plans to give you an introduction into some ways that you can start to read the Bible. Today we’re looking at “Reading the Word of God,” a Bible reading plan put together by three 
different Lutheran church bodies working together. You can find a pdf of the plan by clicking here: https://www.thenalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/3-year-Bible-Reading-Plan-2019.pdf
“Reading the Word of God” looks very much like a lectionary (the readings that we read on Sunday). There is an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, and a New Testament reading. Where it differs from a lectionary is that it normally seems to follow a particular book all the way through. This is a part of a multi year plan, so this year it starts in Judges in the Old Testament and jumps into the middle of Acts (that’s if you were starting in January).
So after looking at a few of these, I think we can come up with some easy to answer questions for each of the reading plans:
- Goes through the entire Bible in a year? No. (One third of the Bible, a part of a three year through the Bible plan)
- Number of readings per day? Three.
- Readings mixed from Old and New Testaments? Yes.
- Average length of readings – 10-20 verses (per reading), about 10 minutes of reading out loud to read a normal day’s readings.
- Number of days per week in plan – Seven. (Yikes, no skip day!)
- Available smartphone app? Doesn’t look like it.
- Available explanations/devotions/prayers? I don’t see any except for a 16 page introduction, click here.
- Available reminders? Yes. Email and text message available, click here.
“Reading the Word of God “is a pretty no-frills Bible reading plan, as its plain jane name might tell you. The plan gets you into the text of the Bible, but it doesn’t boast anything much beyond that (i.e. special insights, getting through the Bible in a year, etc). The lack of a skip day could make it hard to keep up with, especially since all of the readings are just straight readings through biblical books. There is no additional content, like devotions or explanations that help to contextualize the readings for you, so you would have to do that on your own. In fact, if anything, “Reading the Word of God” just gives you the basics of how to make a Bible reading plan yourself, just take 30-60 verses out of one to three books, and you will most likely have your own Bible reading plan that does just about as much as the “Reading the Word of God” plan does.