Joshua 14:14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel
Last week I heard a gentleman talking about his grandmother who is now in heaven. She had lived to be a hundred years old. That is amazing! Think about all the things that have changed in a hundred-years’ time, especially the last hundred years. My own grandmother lived to be a hundred and one. That is remarkable indeed. How long do you think you will live? My guess is that you don’t plan on living to be a hundred and one. You may live longer than that. You probably will not live quite that long and maybe not even anywhere near that long. The bigger question really is, “How will you grow old?”
Think about people who are up in age. I have met some older people who are cantankerous, unkind, unhappy, and unthankful. The truth is they are just more like themselves than they have been before now that they are without any inhibitions. As we age, we become more of ourselves. On the other hand, I have met older saints who are the sweetest, most peaceful, content people I have ever met. Why? It is because in both cases they have had time plus the choices they have made which equals the life they are living now.
Think about a man named Caleb. Caleb was an old man in Joshua 14. He had been a relatively young spy when Moses sent him and eleven other spies to search out the land. Caleb and Joshua had a minority report. The other ten spies came back and said, “We can’t obey God. We can’t go into the land. There are giants, walls, and obstacles,” but Joshua and Caleb said, “No, we are well able. God has told us to follow Him. That is exactly what we will do.”
Caleb was now an old man. At the end of Caleb’s life Joshua 14:14 says, “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.” Caleb was just experiencing the destination for which he had been heading his entire life. Your future equals the choices you make and the time you have. Choices plus time equals future. I don’t know whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, but the real question is, “Are you faithful, dependable, and full of faith?”
Verse 15 says, “And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.” So, this man Arba was one of those very people that the other ten spies were worried about. They said, “We can’t go into this land where the people are greater than we are.” The people there may have been greater than the soldiers of Israel, but they were not greater than God. That is what Caleb realized.
On the other end of this, this town named after Arba the giant is named Hebron. It had a name that changed because it had a God in control that did not change. Ecclesiastes 9:4 says that “a living dog is better than a dead lion.” Here is Arba, a great man of the Anakims, who was gone, but Caleb’s God was still undiminished. He was a God of power and knowledge who led Caleb when he was young and now when he was old. The destination that Caleb reached was because of the one he followed. The way you grow is the way you finish. The one you follow is the destination you reach.
Today, you don’t know the future, but you do have decisions to make today. May God give you and I the courage and wisdom to make the right decisions right now so we can be headed for the right destination in the days ahead.