St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-07-08
Lesson for July 10
CALEB: LIFETIME DEVOTION

LESSON TEXT-Joshua 14:6-15.
GOLDEN TEXT-Let US go up at once,
and possess it; for we are well able to
overcome it. Numbers 1880.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Brave Caleb.
JUNIOR ToPIc-Caleb the Brave;
TOPIC-A Hero's Reward.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC Courage for Difficult Tasks.
I'VE need to know more about
good men who are occasionally
great, and less about great men who
are occasionally good" says the
Lesson Commentary, in pointing out
that Caleb is one of the characters
about whom the Bible does not say
much, but in every case the word is
one revealing high and noble char
acter. Consider such passages as
Numbers 1875, 80; 14:7-9, "a, 80; 26:
IS, as well as our lesson for today.
The background for our study OF
today, and in fact an integral part
of the lesson itself, is the story Of
Caleb's courageous stand with
Joshua when the spies returned from
their visit to Canaan, which is re-
lated In Numbers Is. He was then
a comparatively young man, but
demonstrated by his every word and
deed that he had from his youth
learned to know and obey God.
Note first Of all Caleb's
I. Perfect Obedience wv. $50.
81 wholly followed the Lord my
God" Such a testimony from a
man like Caleb is no idle boast,
no effort to parade his faith and piety
before others. In saying it he was
repeating what God and Moses had
both said about him. In his heart
he knew it to be true.
1t is Gods will for each Of His
children that they should come to
such a place of simple trust and
complete obedience that in every
circumstance of life they need know
only one thing-God's will, and then
in faith to 60 and do it. It is life
beautiful in it's transparent SIM
plicity and powerful in the strength
of God Himself.
ii. Promised Inheritance ". 81.
Surely the land wherein thy feet
have trodden shall be thine inner
itance." Such was the promise Of
God through Moses. Forty-five long
years had elapsed, but down
through this period of wilderness
wanderings and the conflict in SUBJ
DUNG Canaan the promise had lived
in Caleb's heart. He knew it
would be fulfilled, and he waited
serenely for Gods time.
Such also are the promises Of God
which keep the heart singing in our
hours of trial and sorrow, which
light up the dark ways, which
strengthen the heart Of His children.
Learn Gods promises, cherish them
in your heart, expect God to fulfill
them.
III. Preserved Strength wv. 10,
ID!
''The Lord hath kept me alive
and I am strong" Here
was a man kept of God, in full vigor
in his eighty-ffth year, like rock
in a changeful sea, like a snow
capped peak in a, change of cloud
and storm and sun" (Meyer). No
doubt there was what our fore
fathers liked to call 'the longevity
of the antedeluvians," but even
apart from that let us recognize
that life and strength come from
God, and that those who walk with
God in holy living may count on
Him for the renewed strength of
Psalm 1925.
An incidental, but extremely inn
portant, lesson, we should learn is
that God has no age deadline. The
church has frequently sinned
against Him and against His faith
full servants by shelving them"
for younger men, when they would
have brought blessing to themselves
and to the church by encoura ging
and using them. The writer of
these lines is young man, but he
would speak here a word of loving
admonition regarding his honored
brethren who have gone on before
to bear the brunt of the battle.
Nv. Powerful Assurance wv. IL
15.
IF d. the Lord will be with me,
then I shall be able" Caleb asked
for no easy task. He was ready to
60 up against the giants of Hebron.
Read Deuteronomy 3:11, and you
will find that there were men in
those days who needed thirteen-foot
beds. But Caleb was not afraid.
He counted not on his own strength,
but on the power of God. It is sig
nifcant that while the other Sec
tons of Canaan were only par
tally conquered Caleb brought his
formidable adversaries entirely I'M
der control, so that ''the land had
rest from war" ". 15).
The spiritual application to our
day is evident and appropriate.
There are giants in the land in this
year of our Lord 1888 Corruption
social and political-raises its
brazen head. Drunkenness and
vice leer at us with the impudent
suggestion that we cannot control
them. There are giants within us
greed, sel6shness, love of ease,