We need good examples; young people need good examples – and the greatest need are the examples of courageous men and women in the Bible. Perhaps we don’t spend enough time examining the lives of the people who did great things, or, more likely, we identify more with those who fail. Yet there were those whose lives shone like the sun in their obedience to God, and they set an example to the people of that day and to us today.
In Joshua 12-13 we see the division of the land of Canaan into their respective tribes, with the bigger tribes getting more land than the smaller tribes after the conquest of the land. Yet what each received was enough.
In Joshua 14:6-13 we see Caleb making a request from Joshua . . . “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”
Paul in Romans 15:4 states, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
The above passage from Joshua, shows an eighty-five-year-old man saying to Joshua – “Give me this mountain.” Consider a few thoughts about this. . . .
1. At the age of 85 Caleb was going strong, and he had no doubt in his mind, because of his faith in God, that he could defeat those who held the mountain. What dreams do you have right now? How often do we men want to retire, and take it easy? I am not suggesting we shouldn’t retire, nor try to take it easy, but many men give up in their sixties, because they retire from work. Some think that because they retire from work, they can retire from the world. Brothers, you may be your best in your 60s, 70s and 80s. Don’t quit. Keep planning and setting goals that will draw you closer to God and to heaven.
2. Joshua blessed Caleb. He didn’t try to discourage Caleb from taking the mountain – they had worked together and as “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17), Joshua encouraged his brother. THINK BROTHERS!! What we could do if we encouraged one another in the Lord. If we were there to pick up a brother that stumbles. If we were to go visit a brother than has gone astray – if we encouraged him to come back to the Lord who still loves him and is still expecting service from him.
Consider further, that Caleb in Joshua 14:6-12 asks, “Give me this mountain.” We all have mountains to climb and problems to solve. We often try to do so much by ourselves, yet the Lord is there waiting for us to ask for his help, and even ask our brothers and sisters for help. ABOVE ALL, WE NEED ONE ANOTHER IN THE CHURCH TO ENCOURAGE US AND SPUR US ONTO OTHER GOOD WORKS.
It takes courage to do the Lord’s will, the Lord’s way.
How is your walk with the Lord? What are your expectations for South Cobb this year? Who can you help to know Christ and him crucified.
May God truly bless our efforts as we labor for him this year!
Tommy
