A Full Life

Jill Briscoe offers a very interesting look at the way things have changed, especially with people my age or older.

In the dim and distant past

When life's tempo wasn't fast,

Grandma used to rock and knit,

Crochet, tat, and baby-sit.

When the kids were in a jam,

They could always count on Gram.

In an age of gracious living,

Grandma was the gal for giving.

Grandma now is at the gym

Exercising to keep slim.

She's off touring with a bunch,

Taking clients out to lunch.

Driving north to ski or curl,

All her days are in a whirl.

Nothing seems to stop or block her,

Now that Grandma's off her rocker.

(Jill Briscoe, “Loving God with All Your Heart,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 84)

Grandma is a lot busier than she used to be, but is her life fuller? She’s doing lots of things, but is she satisfied?

How about you at whatever age you are? You may be busy, but are you fully satisfied with your life? You may be doing lots of things, but are you fulfilling God’s rich purpose for you? Do you want to know how you can? Then I invite you to turn with me to Joshua 14, Joshua 14, where you can learn from a man in his 80’s still living life to the full and accomplishing all that God has for him.

At this point in the story, Joshua has conquered the Promised Land. Now, he is distributing various plots of land to the different tribes and families of Israel. And as they approach Joshua for their allotment, an old man has an unusual request.

Joshua 14:6-8 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. (ESV)

Caleb recalls the time when 40 years previously, Moses sent him, Joshua, and ten other men into the Promised Land to spy it out. They all returned with glowing reports about how rich the land was, but 10 of the spies advised against going into the land as God had commanded. That’s because they saw giants and big walled cities there. And they were convinced that the land was impenetrable, that they would all die if they tried to take it. So they told the people to disregard God’s command and stay out.

Joshua and Caleb, on the other hand, urged the people to trust the Lord and obey His directive to enter the land and take it. God is bigger than any giant and stronger than any walled city; and with Him on their side, they can prevail. Well, the people believed the majority report, disobeyed God, and turned away.

As a result, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years where that whole generation died off. When their children grew up, Joshua led them into the promised land; and as God promised, they conquered it. Now, Joshua and Caleb are the only ones left of their generation. They alone were able to enter the Promised Land with their children, because they alone followed the Lord. Caleb reminds Joshua of that day. Then he reminds Joshua of the promise Moses made to him.

Joshua 14:9-12 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.” (ESV)

Caleb asks Joshua for the toughest part of the land, the part where the Anakim dwell. The Anakim were the giants, which scared the previous generation away. They lived in the hills in heavily fortified cities, but that didn’t scare Caleb away. Calab asks for THEIR land, a bold request for an 85-year-old man to make! How does Joshua respond?