Joshua 14:6-15 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said to him… We meet with old men who are continually asking us, with a slight twinkle in their eye, "How old do you think I am?" and the answer, of course, is meant to bring out that you never would dream that they were such veterans in years, they are so fresh, and sprightly, and springy. That is an evil thing, and would have been evil in Caleb but for this saving clause, "Behold, the Lord hath kept me alive." That is the saving clause, my green and vigorous aged friend, with whom all things have prospered. See to it that boastfulness be not found in your heart. Let not that "dead fly" spoil your ointment, Do not give to yourself the credit and glory of your strength and prowess of body, and brain, and mind. Give all the glory where all is due. "The Lord hath kept me alive." I want you to notice this also about Caleb. He says, "I have wholly followed the Lord my God"; and in the Hebrew that is quite a striking word — more striking than in the English. It is a pictorial word in the Hebrew, and describes a ship going out at full sail. Why, that is the very keynote of Caleb from beginning to end. He was the man he was, from the beginning to the end, because he was out and out — because there were no limitations and provisions with him. He was not a man who, as Paul would say, "made provision for the flesh for the lust thereof"; but having been called by God to His service, he made it his meat and his drink. He "went in" for God and His cause, like a ship in full sail. He flung every power of body, and soul, and spirit like a free sheet to the winds of God's grace, and God's Spirit, and God's Providence. He "let go." Young fellow, it is the ruin of you that you are holding back. You will never be a Caleb; you will never be a Joshua; you will never be a David — never, never — at this rate of it; hanging back and saving your life, and therefore losing it; taking so much of the programme because it fits you, and scoring out certain other items that you do not like. Go in for a full programme, if you would enjoy Christian life. (John McNeill.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea. |
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