The Devil is in the Detail?

“…in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
Ephesians 2:2 (NIV)

Sadly in this day and age the adage ‘the Devil is in the detail’ is all too commonly applied in endless amounts of small print, exclusions, hidden agendas and fraud. There was a time when a person’s word was their bond. In the main you could trust people, a time when good manners and values were the norm.

Is the Devil actually in the detail?  Satan would like us to think so.  Genesis 3:1 tells us, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’”  He casts doubt on truth.   He wants us to think that this life is all there is. ‘Make the most of it,’ ‘do to others before they do it to you,’  these are his precepts.

The reality is that God’s way is love, truth and peace.  God is in fact in the detail, it is God who creates all things from nothing. John 1:3 says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  All of creation bears witness to its Creator.  His love permeates everything and we are no exception.  He created us in His image and even when we separated ourselves from Him through sin, His love was made manifest through His Son Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.  “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)  Through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection we have the hope of eternal life.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “But what, you ask, of earth? Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place.I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.”

The reliable promise is contained in Mathew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Prayer
Dear God,  thank you for your blessings.  May you grant me a childlike mind, that I may consider your greatness and wonder at the detail of You.
Amen

Study by Reg Newton

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About the Author:
Reg Newton attends the Watford Congregation of the Worldwide Church of God UK.  He and his wife, Pat, provide a prayer table for the community outside the Church each Saturday.

Local Congregation:
Worldwide Church of God Watford
St. Peter’s Church
61 Westfield Avenue
Watford,
Herts. WD24 7HF

Meeting Time:
Saturday 11AM

Local Congregational Contact:
George Henderson Phone:  01923-855570
Email: george-sue.henderson@tesco.net