CLAIM YOUR MOUNTAIN!

CLAIM YOUR MOUNTAIN!

Josh 14:6-13

6 Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord  said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.

7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord  sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord  my God.

9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord  my God.

10 And now, behold, the Lord  hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord  spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord  spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord  will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord  said.

13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

          Joshua and Caleb were the two faithful spies who had gone into Kadesh-barnea. Ten others had seen only problems but these two saw potential. Now, at age 85, Caleb is as spunky and full of faith as ever. He wants to claim Mount Hebron which had been promised to him so many years ago.

          According to the U.S. census the fastest growing demographic in America are those aged 50 and older. These are the Boomers born when Johnny came marching home from World War II with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye. He had been through the hell of war and the challenge of peace did not scare him. Johnny passed much of this spunk and courage on to his Boomer children.

          Older folks are resourceful. They didn’t grow up with an Xbox – they played with an empty box filled with imagination. An old appliance box could be a tank, an airplane, or most anything you could think of. Their toys were not bought at Toys-R-Us – they were collected from Rubbish-R-Us. They played outside barefooted. They were cowboys one moment and Indians the next. Most older folks have not lost the ability to turn something marvelous out of nothing.

          Older folks are persistent; some might say stubborn. They did not have a microwave and so they knew how to boil water on top of the stove. I almost said that they were patient but what I really mean is that they understand that some things take time. Because they don’t have as much time left, they learn to use time wisely. They eagerly push ahead with high value projects.

          Older folks have character and respect values. They cling to their faith in God and they still respect authority. Honor is a familiar theme to them. Generally speaking, older folks are careful to keep their promises and expect you to keep yours.

   YOU ARE NOT OLD

   Age is a quality of mind.

   If you have left your dreams behind,

   If hope is cold,

   If you no longer look ahead,

   If your ambitions' fires are dead-

   Then you are old.

   But if from life you take the best,

   And if in life you keep the zest,

   If love you hold;

   No matter how the years go by,

   No matter how the birthdays fly

   You are not old.

Dear Lord, let me claim my mountains before I lose my ability to climb. AMEN