DEVOTION/ Wholeheartedly

Caleb: a man for the ages

 Charles Schulz said it well, “Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.” Age is something everyone deals with differently. To the very young, their only hope is to get older. Teens feel there is little left to learn in life.  When we reach our 30s, we begin to see the wisdom that comes with age. And when we finally reach maturity we feel the contentment that age can bring.

Caleb was a man who never lost his youth. His enthusiasm was as vibrant at 85 years as it was when he was 20. Caleb is first mentioned as one of the 12 spies who were sent to search the land of Canaan. The Israelites were ready to enter the land, but they needed more information. Word was brought back that the land was fertile but the enemies were intimidating. Only Joshua and Caleb believed that God’s people would be victorious, because the Lord would bless their efforts. But their words fell on deaf ears and the Lord punished his faithless people with 40 long years of wilderness wandering. 

We hear of Caleb once again 40 years later, when he approached Joshua with an unusual request: So here I am today, eighty-five years old!  I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. . . . Now give me this hill country. . . . You yourself heard then that the Anakites [considered to be giants in the land] were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said (Joshua 14:10-12). Just give me a mountain. The Lord and I will manage the rest. Caleb was a remarkable man!

 An amazing discovery

 When we study the life of Caleb more closely, we find an interesting similarity in the Bible references that speak of him. Six times in the Bible we notice attached to Caleb’s name is the modifier “wholeheartedly.” Numbers 14:24 says, Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly. Joshua 14:14 repeats, He followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.

What an interesting choice of words. Might that be the key to Caleb’s youthful enthusiasm? Might that be why Caleb could fight enemies, climb mountains, and defeat giants? It was Caleb’s wholehearted faith in his Savior. His eyes were always focused on his Lord and Savior, not on himself, his pains, or his advancing years. Caleb found his fountain of youth. He was completely committed to the Lord. He built his life on hope, faith, and assurance of sins forgiven, and a future in heaven. Perhaps we can learn a great lesson from Caleb. Perhaps we can also drink from Caleb’s fountain as we strive to serve the Lord wholeheartedly! 

by Reynold R. Kremer