No More Leftovers!

Dear Friends,

This morning I was reading in Joshua 14, and I came across the following statement, “I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.” (Joshua 14:11). The thing that struck me about this statement is that it came from a man who was 85 years old! His name was Caleb - and he's one of the lesser known heroes of the Old Testament. And here's why I say he was a hero - he had amazing spiritual longevity.

So what was his secret? Simple - Caleb fully followed God. That really stuck with me after I finished my reading this morning, mostly because spiritual longevity is something that I want is my life. I want my walk with God to be a long and fruitful one. I don't want to be someone who starts and stops. As all of that was rumbling around in my head, it occurred to me that if I want spiritual longevity, then I need to do what Caleb did. I need to fully follow God. In other words, I must give 100 percent to God.

You know, often when our lives are in trouble, we expect God to drop everything, run to us, and take care of our problems. But then, when it comes to us doing our part for Him, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to make it happen. For example, I seem to have time for television (especially when football is on), and I certainly have time for social media, or for hanging with friends. But unfortunately, when it comes time to study the Word, or to spend time in prayer, I can find all sorts of excuses based on the fact that I have a “busy schedule”. And when I make excuses like that, what I’m basically doing is not giving God 100 percent.

And that's what I was challenged with this morning as I thought about Caleb. If I want to fully follow God, then I've got to really do it. And if my heart is right with God, it will show up in the way I spend my time and in the way I live my life. If I’m fully following God then, just like Caleb, I'll want to give God my best - not my leftovers. That was the secret to Caleb's spiritual longevity, and it's the secret to ours as well.

So today pray with me that we will all be like Caleb - that we will all want to fully follow God - giving Him our first and our best.

Amen?

Daniel