Meditate
On
Follow the Lord
Hebron
therefore became the inheritance of Caleb…because he wholly followed the Lord
God of Israel.
Joshua
14:14
What
are your eyes fixed on today? Are they focused on the darkness that is in the
world? Or are they fixed on the Lord’s promises for your life? My chief
intention in this book has been to turn your eyes away from the destruction you
see every day, and to turn them to our beautiful Lord Jesus.
Do you
know what Caleb’s secret to long life was? The passage above tells us that it
was found in simply following the Lord. Hebron was the name for one of the
cities of refuge we talked about in section 7. In Hebrew, “Hebron” means
fellowship or association. This speaks of intimacy, closeness, and connection
with the Lord.
There
is no formula to long life. It's all about having an intimate relationship with
Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He came that we
might have life and have it more abundantly. Follow Him and find the path to a
long and abundant life. Don’t forget that everything Caleb experienced was
under the old covenant. His renewal of youth and unabated strength and vigor
were all experienced under the old covenant. How much more should we be
experiencing this renewal of youth, boundless energy, and length of days under
the new covenant of grace that is established on better promises (see Heb.
8:6)! Amen!
In a
psalm that Moses wrote, it says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and
if by reason of strength they are eighty years” (Ps. 90:10). Some people have
used this to teach that our expected lifespan is therefore between seventy and
eighty years. But it is important we interpret this psalm in the context of the
children of Israel being in the wilderness and under God’s wrath. We have also
seen that even under the old covenant, Caleb transcended this lifespan and was
still going strong at eighty-five years old.
So dear
reader—you who are under the new covenant—I encourage you to aim high. Don’t
settle for living till just seventy or eighty years old, when God has promised,
“With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation” (Ps. 91:16,
boldface mine). Your satisfaction is the limit and according to your faith, be
it unto you. I pray that as you stay close to our Lord Jesus, you will live
long, live strong, and live under the protective covering of His wings.
BLESSINGS
JOSEPH
PRINCE
