But my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.
JOSHUA 14:8
One of my personal Bible heroes is Caleb. The older I get, the more inspired I am by his fervor, tenacity, faithfulness, and relentless pursuit of the purposes of God until his dying breath.
When the spies were sent into Canaan, it was Caleb who came back with a spirit of faith and told Moses that the Israelites were well able to take the land. He was forty years old at this stage, and committed passionately to having and doing God’s “all” for his life. Though he was surrounded with negativity and fear, he never lost sight of his “all.” Even when Caleb was forced into the wilderness for forty years because of the murmuring, grumbling, and complaining of the children of Israel, his fire or enthusiasm wasn’t quenched. After entering the Promised Land, Caleb could have settled into retirement, and lived a quiet, safe, risk-free, and peaceful life. But Caleb had a different spirit in him. He kept pursuing God.
A fundamental key to having and doing all God has for us is to continually pursue that destiny throughout our lives. It’s precisely the spirit and heart attitude that Caleb demonstrated that we require in order to run our race and finish our course. Later in Joshua we read that when Caleb was eighty-five years old, he was just as vigorous and ready for battle as when Moses first sent him out. Age had not managed to diminish the godly man’s youth and stamina.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
What do you think made it possible for Caleb to keep his youthfulness to old age?