"Details Matter"
Edward Gamson and his companion were relaxing, enjoying their flight from London to Granada, Spain. Their relaxation ended when they noticed on the monitor above that the plane was headed west. To reach Spain from England, one would have to go east.
A check with the flight attendant confirmed their fears: The plane was not headed to Spain. Instead of going to Granada, they were headed to the Caribbean Island of Grenada, due to a ticket agent's spelling error. It's only a letter's difference on paper, but try telling that to the angry travelers from the District of Columbia!
A story on Boston.com on March 29, 2014 tells of a similar situation. A man in Georgia deposited $31,000 into his account. The bank teller credited the amount to another man with the same name. By the time the error was spotted, the other man - a teenager - had withdrawn more than $25,000 of that amount. (We're not sure how that story has unfolded in the time since.)
In each of the above cases, the mistakes were understandable. But in each large consequences followed. In the business world spelling and math are valuable skills.
But with God none of that matters, does it? God is just happy that we occasionally think of Him. He wouldn't get too upset over garbled details - would He?
Nadab and Abihu were priests for the nation of Israel; their father, Aaron, was the high priest who had been appointed by God Himself. In serving at the altar of incense one day, they didn't pay attention to a detail. They "each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane ("unauthorized", ESV) fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord" (Leviticus 10:1,2).
Do details matter with God? Here's what the Lord told Moses after the two priests died: "By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified" (Leviticus 10:3). A casual "Who cares?" attitude should never be brought before the Lord.
Paul gives advice on how to make sure we please God: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). The word for "be diligent" is spoudadzo, a word which means to give it everything one has - our very best effort.
There is nothing more important in life than pleasing the Lord who placed us here. Until we hear differently from Him, we should act as if the details matter.
Timothy D. Hall
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