I wasn’t raised in a hyper-religious household. We knew God, we knew Christ, but we never frequented church. Sunday was just another day. To me, the church seemed like a boring place filled with stuck-up, strait-laced people who never have fun. It wasn’t until high school that I became seriously involved in a church. There, I finally learned the truth about Christianity and how people in the church were just normal people like everyone else.
Soon after, I started to see how others treated “Christians” differently. Perhaps it was for fear of being judged, fear of being annoyed to death over being preached at, or simply thinking anyone who was religious was no longer a real person.
Some Christians are mocked by their bosses or co-workers for their beliefs. In a world that seems against our faith, is it even worthwhile to follow the Lord? We believe the answer is yes, and we’ll use Caleb from the Old Testament to demonstrate what following the Lord looks like and why it’s worthwhile.
When Israel inherited territory in Canaan, Eleazar, Joshua, and the heads of households of tribes divided it among the various tribes (Joshua 14:1). Caleb was 40 when Moses sent him out from Kadesh-Barnea to scope out the land. He followed the Lord fully by not being afraid of the giants in the land like the other spies who allowed fear to demoralize the people (Joshua 14:7-8).
But what does it mean to follow the Lord fully?
It means:
- Having faith in God and answering His call, even when the job is tough.
- Telling the truth without fear and exercising faith by standing alone in the midst of peer pressure (when we follow the Lord, we have a stable character in the midst of stress).
- Pursuing God’s promise boldly with perseverance in obtaining the goal God communicates to us.
- Pursuing God’s glory in your sphere of influence.
Caleb exemplified all of these traits, so when he boldly asked Joshua for the hill country that God had previously spoken to him about, Joshua gave Hebron (the mountain region of Judah) to him as his inheritance because he had followed the Lord fully (Joshua 14:11-14).
When we follow the Lord faithfully, we not only influence those around us, but also future generations.
Study the life of Caleb from these passages and meditate on it. Ask God to help you apply just one of these markers to your daily life. What marker speaks the most to you?
