Pay attention to detail
An artist drawing biblical scenes chose to depict Jesus’ baptism. Like many artists, he drew the Holy Spirit as a dove coming from heaven while Jesus was still in the water ─ before his baptism. He had apparently failed to read all three of the Gospel accounts of the event.
When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. Matthew 3.16 CSB.
Maybe the artist can be forgiven with an appeal to artistic license. But a serious student of the Word of God can never deal loosely with the text. From establishing textual readings of the original languages, to noting the structure of a book or passage, to observing the proper context, to respecting the sequence of events, it is important to pay attention to detail.
Recently, I read a denominational devotional writer who cited Acts 2.38 as his text for the day. He began by stating that the gift of the Holy Spirit “is received after repentance.” Baptism miraculously disappeared between the verse and his comments. The author, steeped in his denominational doctrine, was blind to see the place of immersion in God’s plan of salvation. To him it was an unnecessary add-on to him that need not be mentioned. In God’s eyes, however, it is a “detail” that is key to the obedience of every person that leads to salvation.
Christians must also pay attention to detail. One brother talks about how it’s wrong to take even a paper clip from work, since it would be stealing. To some that may seem an exaggeration, but he understands that taking what is not his is wrong, no matter the worth of the object.
Paying attention to detail does not mean abandoning the simplicity of the gospel. On the contrary, it means giving value to its very simplicity that invests meaning and importance in each detail.
Jesus made an argument for the resurrection of the dead based on the tense of a verb, Matthew 22.32. Paul saw Christ as fulfilling a prophecy because of a singular noun, Galatians 3.16. And in the first story, Jesus said that what had been written by Moses “was spoken to you by God” Matthew 22.31. By Scriptures written centuries earlier, God was still speaking to people – and still speaks to us today. So much for those who want to discount the truth of the Bible by saying it had been written long ago to other peoples!
The Bible is simple enough to be understood in a single reading. Yet its rich details keep the most studious people and the most experienced saints marveling at its perfection and beauty in every particular.
Yahweh’s words are pure words. They are like silver purified by fire, like silver refined seven times over. Psalm 12.6 IEB.
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