11/01/2022
Follow the Lord follow
Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.
Joshua 14:14
What are your eyes fixed on today? Are they focused on the darkness that is in the world? Or are they fixed on the Lord’s promises for your life? My chief intention in this book has been to turn your eyes away from the destruction you see every day, and to turn them to our beautiful Lord Jesus.
Do you know what Caleb’s secret to long life was? The passage above tells us that it was found in simply following the Lord. Hebron was the name for one of the cities of refuge we talked about in section 7. In Hebrew, “Hebron” means fellowship or association. This speaks of intimacy, closeness, and connection with the Lord.
There is no formula to long life. It's all about having an intimate relationship with Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Follow Him and find the path to a long and abundant life. Don’t forget that everything Caleb experienced was under the old covenant. His renewal of youth and unabated strength and vigor were all experienced under the old covenant. How much more should we be experiencing this renewal of youth, boundless energy, and length of days under the new covenant of grace that is established on better promises (see Heb. 8:6)! Amen!
In a psalm that Moses wrote, it says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years” (Ps. 90:10). Some people have used this to teach that our expected lifespan is therefore between seventy and eighty years. But it is important we interpret this psalm in the context of the children of Israel being in the wilderness and under God’s wrath. We have also seen that even under the old covenant, Caleb transcended this lifespan and was still going strong at eighty-five years old.
So dear reader—you who are under the new covenant—I encourage you to aim high. Don’t settle for living till just seventy or eighty years old, when God has promised, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation” (Ps. 91:16, boldface mine). Your satisfaction is the limit and according to your faith, be it unto you. I pray that as you stay close to our Lord Jesus, you will live long, live strong, and live under the protective covering of His wings.
