day no. 15,184: my strength now is as my strength was then

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.”

This speech was given by eighty-five year old Caleb. His name meant, "dog," and I want to be like him when I grow up. At the age of forty, he was strong and brave and full of faith. Forty-five years later at the age of eighty-five, he is still strong and brave and full of faith.

That is a goal worth pursuing, a life worth living, a life worth giving up. Caleb did not cherish his life by holding on to it safely, but loved his life by putting it on the line and putting himself in God's hands. Caleb ran to the danger and as a result, he lived. He stayed strong. He stayed brave. Eighty-five years well spent and a faith that did not live only bound up in his past pursuits, but lived strong in his present resolve. 

May God grant me the same faith, strength and bravery. May I spend my current strength by grace through faith in believing courageously in Your promises only to find myself later filled and stronger, more faithful, still courageous, and sustained by grace upon grace.

My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 

This should be the battle cry of Christian grandparents and young Christian men.
This is the target - a faith that perseveres and declares, "give me this hill!" for the glory of God and the good of men.

My sons, I pray this for you and your sons specifically.
My daughters, I pray for your husbands and sons to be of this brand.

May God fill us with faith and faithfulness, strength and service that gives vision to our future destination and vigor for our present situation. May we pursue this wholeheartedly and be granted the grace of being just as strong by grace in faith forty-five years from now. May we live long by placing our lives daily on the line. May we not try to live forever by protecting our lives, but live forever by dying to ourselves. 

It is my prayer that each one of us, to the man, would stand forty-five years from now, like our brother Caleb, and say, "My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming."


And Amen!