Scripture:

• Joshua 14: 12,14  Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day;… if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And the land had rest from war.(Caleb @ 85 years old)

• Joshua 14:13-14 Message. The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God. Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me.

Reflection:

• William Shatner – aka “Captain Kirk” at the age of 90 flew into low earth orbit this past Wednesday morning. During his earlier years he was the star of the 1960’s TV show Star Trek that captured a nations attention during the days of Apollo and the lunar landing of July 1969. 
• Shatner tweeted after the flight: ‘I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself, I seem to be only like a boy playing on the seashore…whilst the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me.” I think that many of us wonder what it would be like to dive into the “unknown” and see what is on the other side. 
• There are many things that can hold us back from taking on a new, risky endeavor. Lack of knowledge, experience or history certainly can hinder us, as do fear of failure or the fear of what others might think of our risky behavior. 
• For Caleb in the scriptures above, and William Shatner in our recent example, age was not a limiting factor. Caleb was 85 years old when he said to Israel – “give me this mountain!” 
• Caleb’s faith was not in his abilities but rather on what God had promised Israel so many years earlier. The promise was 45 years old, but the challenge of the mountain was new. He declared: “…if the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.”  
• All excuses were off the table for Caleb. Age did not matter, even though he was now 85 years old. It didn’t matter who the enemy was on that mountain. It did not matter how high the mountain was, nor that he was at the bottom looking up. For Caleb, that mountain was God promise, and with God’s help, it could be conquered. 
• C.S. Lewis once said: “You are never too old to set a new goal.” Could it be that God might bring us some new mountains to conquer? Don’t forgo tomorrow’s miracles because of today’s excuses. Maybe it’s time for you to “boldly go where no man has gone before”, just as Captain Kirk would declare to television audiences so many years ago!

May God bless and grow your faith in Him!

David