Caleb - Example

Topic:               Example

Scripture:          Joshua 14: 6-9

Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’

Devotion:

As we reach “E” I came up with Enduring, Eternal perspective, Exciting, Exactly the same, Excuse free, and Extremist - but I chose Example. 

C – Conflicting

A – Available

L – Layman

E – Example

B –

What do you want written on your tomb stone?  The internet is full of funny epitaphs.

·         Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.  Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.

·         I told you I was sick.

·         He never killed a man that didn’t need killing.

·         Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and nowhere to go.

·         The children of Israel wanted bread, and the good Lord sent them manna, Old man Wallace wanted a wife, And the devil sent him Anna.

In many cases today, it seems that names and dates alone are most common.  This led to the phrase, “It’s all about the dash” meaning the life lived between birth and death are all you really have, and the memory others have of your life is all you really leave behind.  I thought of that as I read Caleb’s conversation with Joshua.  In particular:

I brought him back a report according to my convictions… I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.

If that’s not an example to aspire to, I don’t know what is.  Whether we realize it or not, whether we want it or not, we are examples to the people around us.  The only thing we can influence is what kind of example we are. 

Today, I’m asking myself, do I follow God wholeheartedly, and does that fill me with the convictions He would have me exhibit?  And what kind of an example am I?  Will I be able to honestly write that I “followed my Lord wholeheartedly and lived according to my convictions” on my grave stone?