February 24, 2023 - Joshua 13-16
The Lord had fought for Israel and her enemies, one after another, had fallen. They were in the land of promise, they were settling into homes and farmlands and more settled lives. At this time, “Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess’” (13:1). There was another who, also, was old and advanced in years, Caleb, who said, “I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said’” (14:10-12).
What an amazing testimony and what faithful commitment! Sometimes we hear, “I am old. I have put in my time, my service. Now, I can be at ease.” That was not Caleb’s attitude, and it must not be ours. Jesus said of his own ministry, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4-5). And so, with Paul, we run the race until the Lord takes us home. Oh my, what rest and what joy will be ours in eternity.
One more day’s work for Jesus,
One less of life for me!
But heav’n is nearer,
And Christ is dearer,
Than yesterday to me.
His love and light
Fill all my soul tonight.
One more day’s work for Jesus,
One more day’s work for Jesus,
One more day’s work for Jesus,
One less of life for me! --Anna Bartlett Warner (1870)