The #1 Tool For Your 2025 Bible Reading Plan
For the past two years, I have used Logos Bible Software almost every day.
Bible Reading
Sermon Prep
Research
Digital Books
Preaching and Teaching
Honestly, I wish I would have been using this tool for the last 10 years.
But Logos is not just for professionals, it is a user-friendly tool for anyone who wants to dig deeper into their personal Bible study.
So if you are starting a Bible reading plan on January 1st, or you’re wanting to dig deeper as you continue your Bible reading, here are three ways this tool will help you dig deeper into your Bible study.
Insights Tool
Right inside of your Bible reading is a small button called “insights.”
When you click it you have all of the relevant resources for this passage in your library at your fingertips. As you scroll through a passage, Insights will stay with you and offer resources for the selected verse. Insights pulls in cultural background information, related passages, cross-references and more. Imagine a Bible study resource that turned the page with you as you read your Bible. Well, this is what that does.
This means that as your library in Logos grows, insights becomes smarter and smarter. New this year is a subscription option for Logos. I know, we all hate subscriptions. However, for those who are not able to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of commentaries, dictionaries and the like, the new subscriptions give you access to solid Bible commentaries at a reasonable monthly price.
You can use this link to get 30 days for free. That’s enough to try this resource for January and decide if you like it.
Word Studies
You do not need to know Greek to be able to benefit from this resource. When I was in Bible College, we learned how to use a big fat concordance to do word studies. It took forever to flip through the most thin pages you’ll ever feel for one particular word in particular verse. You can tell that I still have not processed the pain of those assignments. Thanks Dr. Linder.
What I wish I had is this tool. Inside of the “insights” tool is a button called “word info.” Here you can see the core information of the original language, complete with how that same greek word is translated in other passages. By knowing how else a word can be translated (called the semantic range), it paints a clearer picture of what a specific word means. You’ll see the word translated “lowly” in Luke 1:48 can also be translated “humiliation” in other passages. You can see more clearly what Mary was communicating to the Angel Gabriel. She was expressing how much of a “nobody” she was; she felt like one who is at the bottom of the rung. A simple word study gives clarity to that! Select key words and see what Logos can pull up for you.
Passage Guide
This brings me to the last key reason why Logos is the #1 tool for your 2025 Bible Reading Plan: the “passage guide.”
Earlier this year I was talking with a pastor friend of mine about Logos. I expressed to him how much time it saves me each week for sermon prep. Here is how it used to work for me: I pulled off a bunch of books I had off my shelf, searched for the right page (often after consulting the table of contents or index in the back), laid each book out on my desk with some sort of a weight on the pages so they stayed in the right place, and looked back and forth from page to screen as I retyped key quotes or insights from these books.
Yikes.
Now I pull up the passage guide, click, and there I am. The world’s scholars from my personal curated library. I can copy/paste quotes or save them to a note attached to the verse. That alone saves me hours during research.
Aside from research, having this tool during devotions makes the Bible come alive! I can see exactly how each verse is essentially “hyper-linked” (to use Jordan Peterson’s phrase) across the scriptures. I enjoy the process of chasing rabbit trails across the story of God. It all ties together, and it creates a beautiful symphony as each writer of scripture sings the song of God’s message across time. I think you will love this tool as much as I do.
Summary
This list scratches the surface of what Logos Bible Software can do. One of these days I’ll write a blog specifically for those leading Bible studies or preaching. But for now, I highly encourage you to try the free trial and get 30 days for free.
