Devotional - April 16, 2004

I like Caleb. A young man when he left Egypt, he went with Joshua to check out the Promised Land and came back with one of two "God is able" reports. He then grew up in the desert with Joshua watching most of the older people die.

Caleb entered the Land of Promise to experience the victory over Jericho and Ai and took part in the battle with the Amorites where the sun stood still for 24 hours. He fought the enemy and captured fortified cities while he was an old man. Later Joshua gave his friend the city of Hebron as an inheritance. Scripture says Caleb followed the Lord wholeheartedly in everything he did.

But the real thing about Caleb that inspires me is what he asked Joshua: "Give me this hill." Scripture says he was old but still strong and vigorous. More importantly, he believed God was more powerful than any enemy. Most people his age would have been thinking of retirement to a farm with a fishing lake on it and close to a golf course. But, not Caleb. He wanted to see God use him one more time before he hung up his body armor to rest.

Men, are you familiar with the stages of life? You remember that Jesus began his ministry when he was thirty years of age. Three stages precede that Ministry stage: The Foundation stage starts at birth and goes through age six with a focus on discipline or learning your limitations. Age six through twelve is the Training stage of life, primarily focused on acquiring information and knowledge. From twelve to twenty, a young man learns self-control and how to make a living in the Skill stage.

In the Apprentice stage (from twenty to thirty years of age) a man puts his learning and skill to work and in the Ministry age, he does what Jesus did; serving God. From fifty to the end of a his life, a man is in a Counsel stage of life where his wisdom and experiences can be shared with younger men coming behind him. Finally, the Heritage stage is that time after a person's death when a man leaves something behind. I'm not speaking of money or property here, but rather a legacy of godliness and blessing for the next generation to build upon.

Where are you in the stages of life? Caleb was in the Counsel stage of life acting like he was still in the Ministry stage. For those like me who find themselves older than fifty years of age and still actively working and serving God, we can take a lesson from Caleb.

The world expected Caleb to let someone else do the work. As for Caleb, the strength he enjoyed at an older age was going to be used for the glory of God. He could enjoy retirement in Paradise after he died. Until then, there was work to do.

Older saint, have got some energy left? How are those spiritual muscles doing? They say muscle atrophy occurs from degeneration of a body by disease or unuse. Your spiritual muscles are not in atrophy from lack of use, are they? Do you want to build muscle strength? Get up, old man and go take that hill for God!