Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Attitude”
Our Bible verse for today: “Here I am today, 85 years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then.” Joshua 14:11 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Be like Caleb!”
Caleb is one of my Old Testament heroes and the guy I want to be like. He was the lifelong buddy of Joshua and as a young man he was one of the twelve spies Moses sent out in Numbers Chapter thirteen to scope out the Promised Land. But unlike the ten girly-men who came back whimpering and whining about giants and fortified cities and big hairy scary potential problems, Caleb, along with Joshua, came back fired-up and ready to charge forward in the name of the Lord.
It was Caleb who, after the “frightened ten” told their sad story of doom and gloom, stood up and attempted to quiet and calm the now disturbed Jews. In Numbers 13:30 we read, “Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, ‘We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
Well, you know the rest of the story. The people didn’t listen to Caleb and Joshua and they did not trust the Lord. So they ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Every adult of that generation, except Caleb and Joshua, perished in the desert and never got to enter the Promised Land.
But Caleb did. Not only did he survive the forty years of wandering in the desert, he thrived. Now, here in Joshua 14:11, we find him a vigorous and spunky 85 years old. He was in the process of receiving his inheritance in the Promised Land and he was still ready to kick butt and take names!
I want to be Caleb! I want to be 85 and still riding my Harley. I want to stay healthy, and strong, and vigorous right up until the end. At 85 Caleb was probably still taking the rambunctious young guys out behind the woodshed for a talking-to and a little corrective therapy. I want to be like that.
But staying strong and healthy and vigorous doesn’t happen by accident. It requires the right attitude. It requires positive thinking, daily discipline, vision for the future, and living a life that God can and will bless. And it requires never giving up. Caleb didn’t give up. He hung in there. He walked through forty years of tough times. He obviously never lost his faith in God or in himself. And he must have been very determined to persevere. That needs to be true of us too.
Regardless of your age it’s important to have the right attitude about life. It’s true that as we age our physical abilities decline and therefore our activities must be adjusted. But it’s also true that far too many people use advancing age as an excuse and they end up doing far less than they are really capable of. Many of them end up just sitting around waiting to die. I urge you not to do that. Live life – really live it – to the fullest you are able to. Caleb didn’t just sit around waiting to die and neither should we. Be like Caleb.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 