inspired by a couple of old geezers

My daily Bible reading has me in the book of Joshua. Toward the end of the book, the Israelites have crossed into the Promised Land but there are lots of specifics still to be hammered out. I came across three verses that were pretty inspiring. I needed a pick-up on the Monday after time change! This worked.

Joshua 13:1 “When Joshua was an old man, the LORD said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.” I love this. God is not allowing Joshua to come up with any excuses for not pursuing his dreams. He makes it clear – in essence saying, “you are not dead yet, get busy!” Sometimes we get tired or burned out or we want to retire. God won’t have any of that. As long as your heart is beating, God has land for you to conquer.

Joshua 14:10b-12a “Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.” I love this even more. Caleb is an old man with a great history of being a tough guy for God. At eighty-five, he is just as much of a butt kicker as he was in his thirties. We may laugh at old guys who don’t know they are old – you know what? I wouldn’t mess with Caleb! A new battle cry for us all: “Give me the hill country!” This tells me that God won’t let the vision die and we shouldn’t either.

Joshua 18:3 Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?" This is Joshua’s challenge to the seven tribes who had yet to possess the land that God had promised them. And it is an excellent challenge to those of us who are still living around the outskirts of what God has planned for us. How long are you going to wait? Direct, succinct, to the point. And impossible to ignore. I am not waiting any longer!

These three passages got me going on this Monday. I hope they will do the same for you.

Shalom!