Can you name four of the twelve disciples? Do you remember the name of the female judge in the Old Testament? What was the name of the child put in a basket and sent down the river to spare him from death? What about the name of King David's heir to the throne?
It's not that difficult to remember things that we hear about frequently. Yesterday I attended a woman's event and the speaker, Lorraine Hill spoke on faith. The subject was the twelve spies sent to explore the land. The subject of the presentation specifically was Caleb. I thought "How cool, Caleb-everyone knows Caleb and Joshua went to 'spy' the land." I was attentive to what she had to say and all of it rang true in my ears.
How amazing that Caleb was willing to stand up and be different. When the other ten expressed concerns about the people who lived there, their fortified cities and their power, Caleb "silenced the people before Moses and said 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.'"
So now for the other ten. They feared giants. There may be many giants in our life but there's not one that God can't handle. The question is do you trust Him to do that? Will you be like Caleb....one of the twelve whose name man remember, or will you be on the list of ten who no one really thinks about? Can you name one of those ten? Just one? I can't. I regret to say that I am one of those that remembers Joshua and Caleb. I could not identify one of the other ten. Yet their fear engulfed them and their opinion permeated throughout the group causing the Israelites to fear as well.
The punishment for that was their inability to see the land. Caleb's obedience was honored by God.
How will you impact the kingdom of God? Will you be a Caleb serving God wholeheartedly, or one of those others whose name we can't ever remember?
The question for today is "What side do you want to be on? Maybe God is calling you to go out, stand up for something, go against the grain, go with your heart and obey. Only you know what He is calling you to do. Don't be a part of the forgotten ten.
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24
Shammua tribe of Reuben
Shaphat tribe of Simeon
Igal tribe of Issachar
Palti tribe of Benjamin
Gaddiel tribe of Zebulun
Gaddi tribe of Manasseh
Ammiel tribe of Dan
Sethur tribe of Asher
Nahbi tribe of Naphtali
Geuel tribe of Maki.
*Hoshea [Joshua] tribe of Ephraim
*Caleb tribe of Judah
Numbers 13:3-16
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