Every year countless folks make a new Year’s Resolution to read through the entire Bible in the year ahead. They launch into Genesis and find themselves freshly challenged with the familiar stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, Abraham and Isaac, and Joseph with his coat of many colors. Then Exodus holds their attention around Moses, with the plagues in Egypt, the burning bush in the wilderness, the Ten Commandments at Sinai, and the instructions for the tabernacle and its furnishings.
But then people hit Leviticus, and it’s like hitting a brick wall. Within a few days they feel overwhelmed by all the legislation and are overcome with the frustration of not understanding what value is to be found. And so they give up there and forsake their intention of reading through the Bible that year, becoming content with just a few devotional verses here and there every few days throughout the rest of the year. If that’s been your experience, I hope you’ll find fresh encouragement to look at the book again with this hymn study that focuses on the central theme of Leviticus: holiness.