How I discovered a love of Leviticus on a journey through the Bible.
I entered a writing contest. I didn’t win, but I did. Before you write that off as an “everyone’s a winner” statement, let me explain.
Back in March a week before we all had to stay home, I woke up one Saturday with the notion I should enter a writing contest.
I had been writing on a project for fun since January. A book about Leviticus, the road block in the Old Testament. I had always struggled getting passed Leviticus on a Bible read through. But after I read through the entire Bible with my Bible study, I discovered a myriad of connections to Leviticus throughout the whole Bible.
I began writing about my experience in hopes of helping others find connections too.
Big picture
Having decided to enter the contest, I soon realized I had one week to pull together the writing sample. I needed a big picture view of the book, chapter summaries, and sample chapters. Doing this gave me a vision for the project that created momentum.
A few months went by and I was notified I was a finalist in the Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Awards. Talk about validation! The judges’ comments were encouraging, insightful, and helpful.
I wrote some more.
Then life happened. I continued working on other projects, but didn’t spend much time on the Leviticus book, though I kept it on my to-do list.
Motivation
Two weeks ago I dove back into writing on this book. My new motivation? Finish writing a bad draft before the winners were announced. I didn’t know what the contest outcome would be, but I did know it’s more fun to write while you think you could win than if you know you didn’t.
So I did. Write, that is. I wrote like crazy. And that’s when I won. Not the contest, but something better.
A profoundly deeper understanding of the sacrificial love of Jesus.
Every writing session brought another jaw-dropping insight into the connections between Leviticus, that oft-ignored and neglected book of the Old Testament, and the compassion-filled love of our Savior.
Connections to Jesus
Most of us will never know just how much Jesus loves us. Oh, sure, we know from the children’s song, favorite Bible stories, and personal experience. But we don’t know from the perspective of Leviticus. We can only know if we look and nobody wants to look at what’s in Leviticus. It’s gross.
So I’ve been writing a somewhat humorous, yet insightful look into the connections to Jesus found in Leviticus.
I met my goal. I finished the bad draft. Now comes the fun part. Pulling all the pieces together to shape it into something you, my reader, would enjoy perusing.
Don’t worry, it won’t be a thick book. And if you’ve ever attended my Bible study you’ll find it to be much the same: motivating, encouraging, thoughtful, and a little entertaining.
The book is still in its early stages, but here’s the first line:
“Ask anybody what book of the Bible they’ll never read, chances are you’ll hear Leviticus.”
My title?
For the Love of Leviticus – Finding Jesus in the Least-loved Book of the Bible
I look forward to sharing it with you when it’s finished.
If you want a basic orientation to Leviticus: