Bible Shred 2025 Key Takeaways

I think this was my 11th year doing the 30-day Bible Shred.

I decided to go for a bit of a challenge and read from a paper Bible rather than a digital or audio Bible. I haven’t don’t that for many years as its takes quite a bit more allocation time and attention.

To make things more interesting I used a KJV pocket sized Bible that I found at a second hand book store.

I wasn’t able to read through every allocated day. There were 7 days that I struggled to catch up, so I listened via audio Bible, and have since re-read those missed sections.

This year’s reading felt different, and I can’t quite articulate why.

But one theme that really stood out to me was something that I can only describe as the DIVINE INCONSISTENCY OF GOD. Let me explain.

Although God describes Himself as the one who outworks judgement of His people, He very easily averts His judgement if there are those who intercept and and repent.

I’ve heard those who object to the claimed good nature of God point to these moments in Scripture of the apparent wrath of God being let loose on people. But what they don’t read is the LONG SUFFERING nature of God - who allows people to make their own choices and decisions regardless of the consequences. God then eventually intervenes which is what is understood as His judgement.

But God is also incredibly merciful, and changes the outworking of His judgement when people repent and turn back to His ways - even though they may be deserving of punishment.

At the time of drafting this post my daughter turned 4 years old. When she was born, something changed inside of me.

I already had a 2 year old son at the time, but it was the birth of my daughter that became a catalyst for much change in my life.

This included major shifts in my health, attitude towards my wife and family, how I steward and manage my finance and much more.

I can only decribe this as a product of love.

As my daughter gets older, there have been increasing moments when she is naughty and pushes the boundary of tolerance. But she quickly repents and apologises.

My heart melts in those moments, and any frustration or anger that may have conjured up in that moment quickly dissappates. Even though she is deserving of punishment, I am INCONSISTENT with my outworking of any wrath due to my love for her.

This is the closest I can come to understanding how God loves His people.

Throughout Scriptures He establishes His expectations of His people and the consquences if they stray too far from His ways. And there are many times when His people do stray far!

But as soon as there is repentance God responds favourably to them.

I read multiple time throughout the Bible shred of how a promise or covenant was broken by a follower of God, judgement should have been enacted, but instead God finds a way to gracefully intervene. He’s inconsistent due to His divine love.

For example:

• Adam and Eve break God’s plan, but He clothes them in their shame and ensures they have a way to live even in exile from Eden.

• Cain is given a mark on his head to ensure punishment from others isn’t too severe.

• Abram intercedes for Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah.

• Moses prays for the sinful Israelites who form a golden calf idol and God listens.

The divine inconsistency is then completed in the life, death and ressurrection of Jesus.

Rather than an angry God coming to outwork wrath on the Roman empire, we have Jesus who comes and models grace and love and hope.

That is a powerful reflection point for me.

I’ll be going in to 2025 meditating on this thought - how do I receive the grace of God?

Do I abuse it and keep pressing the long suffering nature of God to see how far I can get into sin?

Or do I stand on that grace as a platform He is elevating me to?

I pray that this is a year where you own personal Bible roadmap grows your understanding of the grace and love of God.

Be blessed.