I enjoy watching sports on television, especially football, basketball and baseball. Let me qualify that, however, by saying I’m really only interested in Bowl games, the NBA finals and the World Series. I’m just not that excited about sweating the details of everything leading up to the play-offs. Take the recent World Series. Once I figured out who was playing, what color of uniform they were wearing and who I wanted to win, I settled down to watch. Everything was great in San Francisco, but who knew they changed uniforms when they changed playing fields?
After the series moved to Detroit, I was rooting for the wrong team up until the top of the sixth inning. Suddenly the guys in white were wearing gray. Never mind the words “San Francisco” emblazoned prominently across the chest of one team and a fancy “D” strategically positioned over the heart of the other. Remember, I don’t sweat the details. Actually, I was reading a good book during commercials and was only drawn back to the play by crowd noise and the occasional loud description of what was happening. I really did enjoy the game, though, from opening pitch to the champagne in the locker room. Way to go, Giants!
I’m afraid many believers view their journey as Christians much like I watched the World Series. Opening pitch: I acknowledge my need of a Savior and accept Jesus’ death and resurrection as the only way to have my sins forgiven. Champagne in the locker room: heaven and eternal life with God. Why sweat the details in between.
I’ve often heard the phrase “the devil’s in the details”. In this case, a twist on that expression is that the devil doesn’t want believers to sweat the details. In other words, opening pitch and celebratory champagne. What more do you need to live the Christian life? As it turns out, there’s quite a lot more. First of all, you can’t have divided attention as I did while reading my book and watching the game. Living a life sold out for Christ is just that—sold out. It needs to be focused and completely committed.
If you can’t meet face to face with someone, how do you get to know them or have an understanding of who they are? In the case of God, it’s through His written word. And since we are talking about believers, it’s also through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Bible is filled with verses that tell us to study God’s Word to understand what’s going on in our lives, what God has to say about it and that the Holy Spirit will help us in our understanding. Without knowing the truth about God, how can we expect to live a life that pleases Him?
Not only does God’s Word help us live in a right relationship with Him, but there are also verses about our relationship with fellow believers. There are verses that talk about how we should live before those who aren’t believers and even our responsibility to those in government. It’s beginning to look as though we do need to sweat the details. The Living Bible puts it this way, “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true.… It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Yes, we are saved by grace and yes, we have a home in heaven, but there is a lot in between. We need God’s help to pay attention and to sweat the details.