An old nursery rhyme (composed by that prolific writer, Author Unknown) reads:

“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.
And all for want of a nail.”

The tiniest of details often generate unexpectedly large results. If the littlest detail is right, the results can be wonderfully good: David the shepherd boy needed only one small stone from a creek bed to topple a giant more than nine and one-half feet tall. If the littlest detail is bad, unthinkable disaster can occur: Adam and Eve ate a couple of pieces of fruit and destroyed the world as they then knew it.

Anyone who has ever worked in accounting or computer programming knows the true magnitude of small details. A pair of digits transposed, or a single decimal point out of place, can create an accountant’s worst nightmare. A single incorrectly typed character can derail an intricate computer program. (My programming knowledge is next to nonexistent, but I manually generate most of the HTML code for the Web sites I develop. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve typed one incorrect key and disabled an entire Web page!)

Many people like to think in broad strokes. In fact, there’s a popular series of self-help books entitled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff!” People don’t want to be “bogged down with details.” They prefer to deal in generalities. Or at least they think they do.

But in fact, we all understand the importance of details. No one would think it amusing if the cashier at the supermarket tallied up the bill and said, “Your total is somewhere around two hundred dollars,” or if he or she received a bank statement in the mail that read, “Your account has two or three thousand dollars in it, give or take a thousand.” We appreciate — indeed, we demand — accuracy in these matters.

Some religious people will say, “It doesn’t really matter if we do exactly what the Bible says. If we changed this one little thing, what difference would it make?” The truth is that God has not empowered us to alter His word in even the most infinitesimal degree. Jesus spoke of God’s law in minute detail: “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). The word translated “jot” is the Greek iota — the letter corresponding to the English “I,” it is written with a single short stroke. The “tittle” is the Greek keraia, which refers to the accent marks used with some letters. If the Lord is concerned with the smallest letters and even the accent marks in His word, who are we to say the details don’t really count?

Like ripples on a pond, the smallest action can fan out into immense consequences. The want of a single nail may not appear significant, until it causes a horse to throw a shoe and be disabled. And if that missing horse and its rider miss a battle that causes a kingdom to fall...now, suddenly, that one little nail takes on critical importance. So must our approach ever be to God’s word. When it comes to our obedience to His commands, every element matters.

We’ve all heard the saying, “The devil is in the details.” And so he is. If Satan can convince us to stop “sweating the small stuff” of the Scriptures, it won’t be long before we have drifted from its major points as well (Hebrews 2:1). How sad it would be to miss the eternal glory of our Lord because we failed to count as important the “little things” God values (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). How tragic to lose the kingdom of heaven “for want of a single nail!”