(Ver 1.1)  In searching for the hidden qualities of the character of God I have discovered one of these to be significantly applicable to Bible Interpretation.  While God created a very diverse number and types of people with various talents, abilities, personalities and physical qualities we were all made in the image and likeness of God.  When unsaved people see Christians in the world they should be able to see the qualities of the Father being reflected outwardly so that they can come to know these hidden qualities of Him also.  So while studying the Bible I discovered that God cares a lot about the details.  I know some people only look at the big picture and they are happy with staying at the 1000 foot view of the scriptures.  Others I’ve found like are like me and like to get the Word of God and look at it through a microscope so that they can fully understand every little detail.  I get very frustrated sometimes when I listen to preachers who preach at the 1000 foot view level.  I constantly say to myself, that is not what God said.  I think overall it is what God said, but it is the fine little details that were omitted to potentially give the wrong impression of what God said.  I don’t think it is wrong to stay at the 1000 feet level, it’s just not for me.  You see when I read the scripture that told me God knows the number of hairs on my head, I very quickly realized that God cares about and pays very close attention to the most minute and trivial details of every area of our life.   If God is truly detail oriented to an extreme and I would say that He is, then this should help us in our understanding of the Bible if we can apply a certain similar approach to reading and studying the Bible.  I believe that it would immediately help you, if you just become aware of how God operates.  Just by knowing that God cares about the smallest of details will help you change your focus to potentially have a greater understanding of the Word of God, even though that might not totally fit your personality.

 My wife and I were eating out at a restaurant a while back and we looked the menu over and placed our orders.  If it didn’t matter what we ate or what we liked, then why did the restaurant send us a waitress asking us what we wanted?  You see I have been to a restaurant before where there was not choices of food.  You went in and sat down and they started bringing out the food and you either ate what they gave you or you you went somewhere else.  But, normally there are choices given to you at every restaraunt and you choose what you want to eat and how you want it cooked and on and on I could go.   I think sometimes people miss out on understanding the basics of life.  Any way we placed our order and asked for things to be prepared a certain way.  We ordered something like a burger with mustard, lettuce and tomato.  So here is the beginning of a huge potential problem, we were concerned with the details and someone either in the food service or preparation phase was not.   Oh sure we got the 1000 foot view of the burger delivered to us, but because someone either assumed incorrectly or didn’t hear the details that were given we ended up with a product that was wrong.  Does it matter if your customer got something they didn’t order even though it was still pretty good and edible?    Sometimes customers are allergic to certain things like pickles and tell the server no pickles.  It they ate this it might make them sick or even kill them.  Is that OK?  Is it important for food service and food preparation staff to be careful to follow exact directions for someone’s personal safety?  If you don’t think so, you have a major problem.  You see if it matters how physical food is prepared it also matters how spiritual food is prepared and served.  There is no difference between the concept of both of these food sources.  The details matter a tremendous amount in both the preparation and the delivery of the Word of God.

 When I worked as a computer programmer I was very fortunate that God taught me to pay close attention to all of the details.  When you write computer software the details matter a great deal.  You can write a large routine correctly and it can even look like it ought to work perfectly for what it was designed to do.  However, if you leave out even a single character like a semi-colon or a period it could change the logic so that it does not function correctly at all.  In my early years of mainframe computer programming I wrote a lot of code in a computer language called COBOL.  The simple omission of a period in COBOL could cause huge problems and be extremely difficult to debug and correct.  Later on in work, I learned C++ and the omission of a semi-colon could also cause a similar major problem.  You see a principle here from software construction that the omission of even a seemingly insignificant little detail matters.  The omission of a single character can effect the outcome and actually make the rest of the code useless.  This principle actually applies to Bible interpretation whether you realize it or not.  You might not have followed my comments on writing software and you might find it hard to relate to my analogy, but I hope you at least understand the general concepts that I gave you.

 You know what happens when you become detail oriented?  You start looking at every word using a style or method that promotes a much closer observation and analysis.  Knowing the details. doesn’t change the big picture, but it does enhance your ability to understand it and to teach it.  Attempt to rise to God’s level of detail analysis.  See the details like God intended you to see them.  Get into the details and it will change your perspective on the Word of God and cause you to learn things like never before.  I believe this and I practice it daily.  God bless you to do the same.