Once in a while I get an up close and personal view of the changes that have occurred in our world during my lifetime. So it was recently when I went to a fast food restaurant for my noon meal. It has become a bit of a challenge for me to read the small print on the menu above the counter, but I had something going for me that day—located near the serving line where I could see it plainly there was a sheet of copy paper with a listing of several dinner specials to choose from. To make it even more attractive, each of the greasy meals included a five ounce sundae. Sounded like my kind of deal!

I chose the fish meal and waited a few minutes as it was being prepared. When the waitress handed me my food I noticed that there was no sundae on the tray, but I heard her tell someone they could get their ice cream after their meal so I saw no reason for me to be concerned about my dessert. I consumed my sandwich and on the way out I stopped back by the counter to inquire about my sundae. That was when I was informed that the “dinner” deals were not available until late afternoon. Since I grew up with meal times being breakfast, dinner (pronounced “dunna”), and supper, I assumed the advertised meal deals were for the noon meal. Then the light in my head came on! It seems that what is known as dinner time to me has become lunch time to most of today’s society, which resulted in me going away with egg on my face and no ice cream in my hand!

If I had read the entire advertisement I would have seen the serving times posted (I wonder what that nice young lady was thinking when she pointed that out to me?), but I only read what caught my interest and ignored the rest of it. Yet another reminder that it is wise to pay attention to all the details, and not make uninformed assumptions!

While in my case the only harm it caused was a little embarrassment for me, and a bit of disappointment over not getting the anticipated sweet treat, there are situations when failure to make choices, plans and decisions based on dependable details can cause heartache, or even disaster.

One of the sad stories of the Old Testament is that of the first king of Israel, King Saul. After his tragic death on the battlefield, 1 Chronicles 10 preserves this sad commentary on the late king’s life: “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse” (verses 13-14, New International Version). Rather than inquiring of God for guidance and paying attention to the details of God’s plan, he chose to do things his way. The end result was a sad one for the first king of that great nation.

Do you find yourself hurrying through life, doing things your way and never seeking guidance from God or Godly individuals? Now is a good time to slow down a bit, call out to God in prayer, dig into His Word, pay attention to the details that He points you to, and follow His plan for your life.