Called to a New NormalSample

Wholehearted Devotion

The old man rose, his skin like leather from the Middle Eastern sun. The lines and creases on his face told stories without using words, yet a hush fell over the crowd for the words his mouth would tell. While he wore his years, they rolled off easily when he spoke, and you could imagine him as a man of forty, walking with Joshua to explore the land for the first time. He told about how they brought back that first report of the land, and how his brothers melted with fear. But then he said, “I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly” (Josh. 14:8, NIV), and even the largest men in the crowd shivered from the electricity in those words. Yes, something else entirely came out of Caleb when he talked about his devotion to his God, and it still shook the ground just to speak of it. 

Caleb testified how God had kept His promise, building to a crescendo: “So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (Josh. 14:10– 11, NIV). At that point the sound of tears in the crowd was audible. The power of the old man’s faith, the rigor of his dedication, and the sheer scope of his testimony stunned everyone. The fire that animated him then still burned in him now, and the desire to see God’s promises come to pass was as bright and clear in him as ever. He said, “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” (Josh. 14:12). 

He didn’t come just for the speech; he came for the land (Josh. 15:13). This man was ready for action one more time. He wasn’t willing to stop until he saw everything God had promised come to pass. And why? Because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly (Num. 14:24; Deut, 1:36). Caleb is never described as bigger or stronger than anyone else; we have no description of him being a superior strategist or charismatic leader. He wasn’t brimming with any special gifts or talents that we know of, but he had a heart that he was willing to give fully to his God—and that made all the difference. 

Caleb decided to follow God wholeheartedly and the product of that decision was words of incredible faith and supernatural help from God. When it comes to entering a new normal, we can’t waste time worrying about giants. What matters most is having a heart that’s undivided in its devotion to God. 

“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, NIV).