Old Dog, No New Tricks

Ps. 18: 34 He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze

The children of Israel have made it to the Promised Land, after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. They have fought many wars, defeated many enemies and now they are sharing up the land among the tribes and families of Israel. Along comes a tough-looking guy, walking with a bounce in his steps. “Give me this mountain”, he asks Joshua, looking at the towering mountain in the distance. Joshua stares at him for a while then begins to smile. You see, there are two strange things about the request. First, that mountain has not yet been conquered and it is full of some of the toughest, meanest warriors including the Anakims – a set of giants. Second, the brother who is making the request is Caleb and he is eighty-five years old, some forty years older than all the other men!

Yesseree! This Caleb is one baaad boy! He is eager for a fight. He knows that the people in that mountain are the enemies of the Lord and that God told Israel to drive them out. He knows that with God on his side he can more than beat the Anakims.

But that leathery old fellow didn’t just become mean in his old age. Over forty years before, Moses had sent spies into the Promised Land to see how they could best conquer it. Ten of those spies came back and told frightening stories how strong and fierce the enemies were, especially the Anakims. The people became afraid and decided to go back to Egypt. But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb spoke positively. “Let us go up at once”, Caleb said, “because with God we can defeat them”. Tough from the start.

Well, Israel didn’t go and God was so upset with them that they had to wander forty years in the wilderness till all those cowards died. Now, even as an old man, Caleb was like a dog on a leash, straining to go. (By the way, his name, Caleb, means “dog”!) He got permission to take the mountain and he did; driving out the giants in the name of the Lord. Today when evil is so strong in the world, God needs some men and women who are not afraid; who are eager to fight against evil because they know that with God they will surely win. If the right attitude is developed when you are young, when you get older it will only get better.

So, how about you? Will you take the challenge and fight the battles of the Lord? I hope you will.

Lord, help me to trust you so much that I will not be afraid to do the right and oppose the wrong at all times, in Jesus’ name, amen.