Welcome to the first “front porch” visit of 2019. It is funny that, as I sat down to write, I looked back at some previous columns and found one about Caleb, dated January 1, 2016. I suppose the first of the year and the spirit of Caleb kind of go together.
When you sit and talk about Caleb, we also have to talk about those unbelievable unbelieving Israelites with whom Caleb has to deal. I say “unbelievable” because of how absolutely faithless they prove to be, when they just as well could have been faithful. Their pitiful, flailing faithlessness, really, is nothing short of unbelievable. I don’t know a better word for it.
But Caleb stands out as a ray of light amidst that dark generation. He is one of the world’s great “Can” men. We read of our share of “cannot” men in the Bible – We see many of those kinds of folks around us every day – but to find a “Can-man” such as Caleb is a rarity. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a more positive, determined, faithful, encouraging, purpose-driven, God-fearing man than Caleb. That description may sound extraordinary, but this Caleb is an extraordinary man!
When the 12 spies in Moses' day go over to spy out the land of Canaan and come back with a glowing report, you would think that such an occasion would end in an immediate God-driven assault on their enemies, resulting in a resounding victory and a return home to the Promised Land.
You would think.
But we know things don't always go the way we think they should. This Israelite generation looks at the giants over in Canaan, then looks at how puny they are in comparison, and says, “Why, we’re nothing but grasshoppers,” and the whole generation tucks its tail and runs (Numbers 13:33).
This scared, “let’s just give up” attitude infuriates Caleb, the great man of faith; and it perplexes the great warrior Joshua standing alongside of him, too. They had never seen such faithlessness just come out of the woodwork unimpeded the way it does that day.
Oh, Caleb stands up and delivers one of the greatest “halftime” speeches you’ve ever heard, the theme being, “Listen, fellas, we CAN do this. We can win this battle! Don’t you know that God is on our side? Don’t you know that we cannot fail with God with us!”
But halftime speeches only work if the players are willing to borrow the courage of the orator standing before them and go out to the field and lay everything they have on the line. But these Israelites aren’t even going to leave the locker room to take the field for the second half.
As a result, our two heroes must endure four grueling decades longing for the Promised Land. But they never give up, through it all. Caleb will be 85 years old before he ever sees the Promised Land, and Joshua is close to the same. But the battle, as we know, does not go always to the swift. It is he who is determined who wins the prize, and there are no men in the Bible more determined. After nearly half a century, they eventually will cross over the Jordan River into Canaan.
So, today—Determine to cross over into 2019 with Caleb’s vibrant spirit burning deep in your heart. And when someone comes along this year – and they will – and says, “Nah, we can’t do that. It just won’t work.”
You will be well-prepared to say, “Oh, no sir, that’s where you’re wrong.
We CAN do it, and – with the Lord’s fighting beside us – we will.”
January 2, 2019
Comments