Becoming a Woman of the Word | 2024 Bible Reading Plan

By: Jenifer Metzger

Stay tuned to the end for a wonderful giveaway!

This book of instruction must not depart from your

mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that

you may carefully observe everything written in it. For

then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Joshua 1:8

At Woman to Woman Ministries, it is our desire to cultivate a community of women who are in the Word of God every day. We want to help women grow in their desire to become women of the Word and who strive to live by the Word.

However, we know it can be hard. No matter what season of life you're in -a college student, career woman, new mom, mom of teens, empty nester, retiree- you are busy. We are often on the go from the moment the sun rises in the morning and rarely stop until well after dark. Our lives are busy, busy even with good things. Because of the busyness, our time with God is often what gets pushed to the back burner. The thing that should be first, the highest priority, often falls last.

So how can we become women of the Word through the busyness of everyday life?

Figure out why it matters. Why should we be women in the Word every day? The Bible is like a life instruction manual and personal letter all in one. Everything we need help with in life, it's in the Word. Marriage, parenting, relationships, health, it's all right there in God's Word. The Bible is also how we learn the heart of God,  how we come to know His desires and plans for our lives. Remember when you were dating your spouse and you would write letters back and forth, or maybe send text messages back and forth? You worked to get to know each other. Reading the Bible helps us get to know God. It matters.

Make it a priority. If we are honest, we would say that we do actually make time for what matters to us, even through our busyness. If going to the gym is important to us, we go. If that favorite TV show is important to us, we make sure to watch the new episode. If taking time out for self care matters to us, we are sure to get that in. If scrolling through endless Reels and Tiktoks matter (and even if they don't), we are absolutely making sure we have time for that. If being in the Bible matters to us, we will make time. We just have to purpose in our hearts and minds to make it a priority.

It's science. Evidence proves that people who read the Bible four or more days a week are 407% more likely to memorize Scripture, 228% more likely to share their faith with others, 59% less likely to view p*rnography, 30% less likely to struggle with loneliness, anger issues dropped 32%, alcoholism dropped 57%, and relational issues (especially in marriage) dropped 40%. Those are big numbers. When we see that, it really puts it into perspective and shows the importance of being in the Word of God daily.

It doesn't actually take as long as you might think. In order to read through the entire Bible in one year, six days a week (here at W2W, we take Sundays off for reflection), it only takes roughly fifteen minutes a day reading at an average speed. Fifteen! That's it. Fifteen minutes is nothing. You could wake up fifteen minutes early, cut your social media down by fifteen minutes a day, read while you eat breakfast or enjoy your morning coffee, use your lunch break, instead of bedtime phone scrolling you can read the Bible. There are so many different options. But it literally only takes you fifteen minutes a day, which is truly nothing.

When you taste and see... The Bible tells us in Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in Him!" When I first got back into the Bible regularly as an adult, I started with one verse a day. I quickly got a "taste" of the Lord in a fresh way and after a few short weeks, my one verse turned into a chapter, a couple weeks more and it turned into multiple chapters. I couldn't get enough because I fell in love with God and the Bible in a new and exciting way.

One of my favorite quotes is from Martin Luther and says, "To be a Christian without reading the Bible is no more possible that to be alive without breathing." Being a woman of the Word is important, it matters. Let's commit to make 2024 the year that we become true women of the Word!

Discussion:
1. Have you ever read through the entire Bible (no matter how long it took)? How did you feel after completing it?
2. Are you ready to commit to reading the Bible in 2024?

Introducing our 2024 Bible Reading Plan...

At Woman to Woman we offer a one year Bible reading plan. This is a free resource that you can print out and keep in your Bible or download to your phone. Monday through Saturday we read the Bible and on Sundays we have a Reflection Day.

Reflection Day is not a day to just skip reading. Instead, it is a day where you can look back over what you read throughout the week, pray over what you learned or what God spoke to you, spend extra time in prayer, work on Scripture memorization, and/or reflect on what your pastor preached about that day.

In 2024, we are going through both the Old and New Testaments simultaneously. Each day you will read 2-3 chapters in the Old Testament, then jump into the New Testament and read 1 chapter (there are only 260 chapters in the New Testament, so there will be a few days that do not have New Testament reading).

You can complete all of the reading in one sitting, read the Old Testament in the morning and the New Testament at bedtime, or whatever works for you. All that matters is that you are in the Word, remember, we committed to becoming women of the Word!

We would love to have you join us in 2024 as we read through the Bible together. To access the free download of the 2024 Bible Reading Plan, click HERE.

Over the next few weeks, I will be back on Wednesdays sharing encouragement and tips for getting into the Word. Join me!

In celebration of our 2024 Bible Reading Plan, we have a fun giveaway going on over on Instagram. To enter to win this Bible bundle, click HERE.