Joshua 15:13 And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.
We think that everyone wants to be young. Actually, I don’t think everyone wants to be young. I think everyone wants to be 21. Ask a five-year-old if he wants to be younger. No! No five-year-old in the world wants to be anything but older, and a six-year-old wants to be a seven-year-old. A seven-year-old wants to be an eight-year-old, and on it goes until you get to 21. Then, at 22 something magically happens; we want to be younger than we are.
So, what everyone wants is to be perpetually 21. Those under 21 want to be older. Those over 21 want to be younger. The truth is that we ought to be happy where we are right now. Truthfully, we want to be mature and we want to be strong. We ought not seek to be younger or older, but simply to be strong where we are right now. We should enjoy the lot we have in life right now and make the most of it by God’s grace and strength.
Caleb is a wonderful example of a man who stayed strong. He seemed to be young because he was simply doing what God wanted him to do and relying of God’s strength. He teaches us three lessons.
The first lesson is to accept your lot. We just need to accept our lot in life, the gifting, the ability, and the opportunities that we have. Instead of wishing for more or less, we should accept what we have been given. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.” God is in control, and even if we cast lots to decide what portion of land we get in the land of Canaan, God is in control of that. Our lot is something that has been given to us by God.
Joshua 15:1 starts, “This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah.” In subsequent verses and chapters we find all the lots that had been given to the people of Israel, essentially and ultimately, by God. Verse 13 tells us about Caleb and his lot. So, we ought to accept our lot, to be grateful for our lot.
The second lesson is to improve your lot. Just because a lot or portion has been given to you does not mean you can’t improve what you have been given. Verse 13 says, “And unto Caleb the son of Jephunah he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.”
So, he accepted his lot, but then he improved his lot. Verse 14 goes on to say, “And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak.” Just because I have a lot, a certain portion of abilities, gifts, opportunities, or background, does not mean that by God’s grace I should not improve what I have been given. My great, great grandfather, a farmer, was given a section of land, 360 acres, by the federal government in the Dakota Territory back in the 1860s because he simply improved the land. The government would give people plots of land if they would improve them. Now God has given you something, a portion. Improve what you have been given.
The third lesson is to ask for more. I don’t think it is wrong to do that. Accept your lot in life, improve your lot in life, and then it may be that you can ask God for more if you do it with a submissive heart. That is what Caleb’s daughter did. She said, “Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.” As long as we are content where we are, there is nothing wrong with asking, “Lord, would you please expand my vision, expand my opportunities, expand my ministry?”
In any event, we don’t need to seek to be younger or older, but we need to seek to be stronger and have that strength as long as God gives us breath. We should be content with what we have, improve what we have, ask for more if that is what God wishes to give, and seek God’s grace just as Caleb did. Caleb was a man whose strength at 85 was undiminished in many ways from when he was 40 because he trusted God with his whole heart.