Joshua 14:14

New International Version (NIV)

So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.

For meditation

1. Do you know that God rewards those who follow Him wholehearted in Christ Jesus?
2. Can we look at the example of Caleb today?
3. Do you remember the favorable report he and Joshua brought from their survey of the Promised Land (Nu. 13:30; 14:6-9), while the other ten spies presented a discouraging report (13:27-29)?
4. Do you see how God commended his “different spirit” and wholehearted devotion to Him (Nu. 14:24)?
5. Do you understand why God promised to “bring him into the land he explored” (24b)?
6. Now, do you see how, for forty-five years, God kept Caleb alive till the day He fulfilled His promise to him (Joshua 14:10)?
7. Not only that, do you see how God kept him “as strong … and battle-ready” at age eighty-five as he was at forty, when Moses sent them out to spy the land (11)?
8. Do you see how Caleb’s attitude, determination, and convictions stayed with him until he demanded the “hill country” for his inheritance in the Promised Land (12)?
9. Can you perceive the reason for those blessings?
10. Was it not “because [Caleb] followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly” (14)?
11. Isn’t it amazing to read how, at a very old and challenging age of eighty-five, Caleb conquered Hebron, the hill country of the giants (15:14-15)?
12. Likewise, can you perceive what God will do for you if you determine to follow Him wholeheartedly?

I pray you will be reassured by God’s faithfulness to Caleb, despite the time lapse between the promise and its fulfilment. What God seeks to reward in us is unflinching faith and wholehearted devotion to Him. As the Seer Hanani told King Asa, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him (2 Chron. 16:9).

So, may you wholeheartedly determine to walk with Jesus in absolute trust and obedience; and may God keep you strong, vigorous, and battle-ready until He fulfills all His promises to you, in the power of the Holy Spirit! Amen.

Shalom