Going over with a fine-tooth comb

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

Going over with a fine tooth comb means you are examining the details of something very carefully; looking for errors in the quest for perfection.

I am in the final stages of submitting my book to the publisher so I have spent the last week going over all my devotions looking for errors and double checking the Scriptures for accuracy. The process has been painstakingly slow but I’m closer than I was.

Perfection is very hard to obtain, regardless of what we’re talking about, but most of us strive to obtain it anyway. It’s so easy to get so bogged down in the details you can’t see the forest for the trees.

God demanded perfection when He gave Moses explicit directions on how to construct the tabernacle. It consisted of a Holy Place and a Most Holy Place separated by a heavy woven curtain. Exodus 25:9 says, “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” This was to be a sanctuary where God would dwell among the people so they would come to worship and offer burnt offerings to atone for their sins.

There was no margin of error when the high priests entered the Holy place. Everything they did had to be to the exact details God had specified. They even had bells on their robes to signify they were still alive when they were in the inner sanctum and a rope around their ankle if they died so they could be removed.

Jesus relieved us from those ceremonial cleanses and Matthew 27:51-52 says, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to bottom.” This was a beautiful visual making believers realize they can now go into God's presence.

Thankfully we no longer have to offer sacrifices because we have Jesus to be our intercessor and go before God on our behalf. Although we are called to be perfect, none of us will be but we can strive to be. I’m sure there will be grammatical errors in this finished book because I’m not perfect, but I’m making every effort to achieve perfection.