Year in Review 2024?
At the end of each year, many technology based companies release some sort of “year in review” based on the usage data they’ve collected on me over the year.
The most well known of these is Spotify’s “Wrapped” playlist which tells me my top songs, artists and newest genres I’ve listened to. For the last couple of years my Spotify Wrapped summary has primarily been a combination of worship music (what’s usually played on our living room speaker) and the Wiggles (what is also usually played on our living room speaker).
It’s a fun way to see interaction data from an often used platform.
But I’ve been wondering what a report like this would look like if it were to be based on my own spiritual discipline of reading and studying the Bible with the purpose of getting to know God intimately. I’m not talking about Bible app usage, but all the areas that can’t quite be defined by a digital metric.
I’ve devised a bit of a thought experiment that I’m using to help me do a personal year in review. If there was some way to quantify my personal growth in this area, what questions would I like answered?
These are questions I believe a hypothetical Bible reading year in review would help me answer:
What was my longest reading streak?
What was my most re-read scripture (similar to top songs on Spotify)?
What was my newest interest area in the Scriptures?
Total Bible reading minutes?
Total minutes spent meditating on the Scriptures I read?
When was my reading the most consistent?
What was my reading the least consistent?
What habits have I developed to increase Bible Mapping?
What were my most common distractions?
What engaged me in the Scriptures the most?
Most impactful theological insight?
Most impactful spiritual insight?
If I can’t answer questions 11 and 12, what can I do to help capturing and remembering my most impactful insights?
How many observations did I make about the Bible?
How many questions did I ask about the Bible?
Who else did I share my insights and journey with?
None of these questions can be answered by some sort of measurable scale, but only by reflection.
And rather than setting goals for 2025, I’ve attempted to look back through 2024 with these questions. My intention is to reflect on both the good and the bad in my journey.
But I’m also checking my motivations as well.
I recently watched a course on TheosU on Proverbs hosted by Dr. Bruce Walke. He made the point that in order to get to know God we also have to get to know about God as well. They both play a part in intimacy with God.
My prayer going into 2025 is that I treat 2024 as a foundation for further growth and that I don’t have to start again in areas that God has grown in me.