Shark Tank is a popular television show in which entrepreneurs present their innovative products to a group of successful businessmen in the hope that they will invest in their ideas. They know their business has potential, but many of them don’t understand all of the “details” that go into running a successful operation, and they need guidance and direction.

Sometimes details don’t seem that important to people who have great ideas. While marketing and delivering a product are necessary “details,” accounting and financial management are equally important. Attention to the details often spells the difference between success and failure.  Good ideas and good products, without the details, are not enough.

Our God is a God of vision, and He pays attention to the details.

When you see a skyscraper or mall being built, it started with a vision of what could be done on that real estate. For that vision to be realized, a myriad of details had to be addressed. Everything from blueprints, artist’s renderings, cost estimates and financing, to plans for interior design and layout, assembling a workforce, obtaining proper approvals, choosing and obtaining the proper materials, and a litany of other things had to be in place before that vision could become reality. 

Our God is a God of vision, and He pays attention to the details. Just look at the details of creation, and look at the prophecies concerning Christ’s life and death that were perfectly fulfilled by Him. Everything God does is perfect, and the “finished product” of His endeavors does not disappoint.

In the Old Testament, God provided the vision for the physical tabernacle in which He would dwell among His people. Along with the “big picture,” He gave specific instructions and details to be followed during construction and in the manufacture of the instruments and furnishings to be placed into service. To their credit, Moses and Israel followed the details to the letter, and God was well pleased (Exodus 40:16, 34).

Similarly, God has given us a vision of His Plan and what He is doing and building today. We see the “big picture” of Jesus Christ returning to earth, establishing His Kingdom, and reigning for a thousand years, with His firstfruits—you and me—reigning under Him. We ask God to continually hone that vision in our minds. It’s a vision we embrace; and it should motivate and inspire us. As Solomon said, “Without vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, King James Version).

Along with the vision, God also gives the details of the spiritual temple He is building in us, individually and collectively. He expects His “details” to be incorporated into our lives and character. They are details from God, and they are details that are important to our salvation.

Christ said this concerning the importance of detail and the “big picture:” “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10).

God admonishes His people, from ancient times until today, to know and live the details of life. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3). If we are to live by every word, we need to learn every word, “rightly dividing” and studying His Word daily. Furthermore, God says to live and worship Him exactly the way He says, not “adding to it or taking away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32 and Revelation 22:18-19).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ gives this goal for His disciples: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Perfection requires keeping the vision in mind and an ongoing “accounting” of our lives and behavior. With the power and guidance of His Spirit, we strive to add the “assets” of godly character and the fruits of His Spirit, while continually making the choice to deny self and overcome the “liabilities” of our lives, such as sin, carnal nature, faults, weaknesses, poor attitudes and inattention to the needs of others.

Today God is in the process of building a perfect spiritual temple in us, individually and collectively as His Church. He expects His Church to reflect His vision and the details of His word: “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27, emphasis added).

Are we committed to letting God build into our lives and character the vision, along with the details of His Word? If we are, He will be faithful to complete the building process He has begun, and He will be glorified by the finished product.

When Moses and Israel completed the tabernacle in the wilderness, God was pleased: “Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did . . . And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:16, 34).

May God be glorified as we strive to live by every detail of the Word of God and become “faithful in what is least and faithful also in much.”