Skip to content ↓

Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids

Exploring the Bible

A key component of every parent’s task is helping our children form good habits. A key component of every Christian parent’s task is helping our children form the good habit of personal devotions. We are convinced that our children are sinners in need of God’s saving grace, we are convinced that God’s Word is powerful, we are convinced that God is pleased to use his Word to convict our children of their sin and draw them to his Son. This is my brief review of a new tool that can help every parent in that crucial task.

Many years ago my friend David Murray began releasing devotional guides for children. These were no fancier than plain Microsoft Word documents meant to be printed at home. For each day of the week there was a small passage to read, a brief question to answer, and, eventually, an area to jot down a couple of prayer requests. I immediately saw the promise in these guides, printed them off, popped them into binders, and gave them to my children. Each one of my three children used them for a time and each one benefitted from them tremendously. They were just perfect for ages 6-12 until they were ready to move on to more advanced resources.

Those rough devotional guides have now given way to Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. Published by Crossway and illustrated by Scotty Reifsnyder, it maintains the flavor of the original guides, but has been improved exponentially. It now takes the shape of a guide to exploring the big story of the Bible. Murray says it “will act as your leader, map, and compass to the Bible. It won’t take you to every part of the Bible, but it will take you to the main peaks and give you an all-round view of its beautiful landscape. At times we’ll slow down and look at some parts more closely. Other times, we’ll speed up in order to get to the next major mountain peak in the Bible’s story. By the end of a year, you’ll have learned skills to help you explore the Bible on your own with safety and success.”

Each week is set up like a little expedition into a new part of the Bible. There are prayer points for each day, a memory verse to serve as a kind of snapshot of the expedition, and a daily log to write out a verse or answer a question. This format continues from Monday until Saturday. Sundays are a day to rest and recharge, though there is a place to jot down the sermon text, title, and a few notes. Here are a couple of images from the book; you may also benefit from browsing this small excerpt.

Exploring the Bible
Exploring the Bible

David asked if I would provide an endorsement for the back of the book, and here is what I wrote: “There is so much I could say to commend Exploring the Bible, but any praise would pale in comparison to this, the ultimate parental endorsement: I gave all three of my children Exploring the Bible as their very first experience of personal devotions. All three used it, all three enjoyed it, and all three benefited tremendously from using it. I wholeheartedly recommend it for your children, too.”


  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.