The Dreamers

Post from Les 

The following are excerpts from a Sunday School Topical Series I wrote in 2004 entitled

The Dreamers

Addressing Challenges for Mid-Life and Senior Christians

Part 2 - Living Out the Legacy of Obedience to the End

“And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years. Here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me, just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going in and for going out. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day.

It may be that the Lord is with me . . .” Joshua 14:10-12

Disproving the Notion that Your Best Years are Behind You

ADOPTING the spirit of Caleb as your life long battle cry.

DISREGARDING how the world has idolized youthfulness and developed phobias about age.

CONFRONTING the lie that you have nothing further to offer the Lord in your senior years.

REFUSING the inclination to think you deserve to coast into idle retirement.

BELIEVING that after all you have been through, you’re more useful now than ever before.

RESTING in the knowledge that you don’t have to compare yourself with anybody else.

STAYING focused on the “tried and proven” things in life that really matter.

REDEEMING the time, considering how fast it has flown by, and determining to finish well.

REMAINING obedient to the Lord’s calling to follow Him wherever He goes.

PRESENTING yourself a living sacrifice while you still have breath.

CATCHING fish in obedience to Jesus when your work day is over.

SAVING the best wine for the finish.

Society constantly bombards us with messages that youth is "god" - that being young, or at least looking young, is the premier thing to value in life. Once your birthdays have passed it by, there’s actually very little to get excited about or talk about – just hope that Social Security will be there when you retire. But what does the bible say about growing old . . . or what value does God attribute to being a person of experience? I believe He places great expectations on us in this season of life.

Joshua was 57 years old when he and Caleb spied out the Promised Land and returned with a good report. He was 95 years old when Moses died and God told him to assume responsibility to lead the children of Israel across the Jordan and take possession of the land and conquer all the inhabitants.

Caleb’s legacy of having “another spirit” is forever etched in our frame of reference when we talk about looking past the apparent obstacles in our path and determining to focus on the potential God gives us to overcome. What he states boldly at the age of 85 may or may not have startled Joshua, but it most certainly catches our attention. I believe this was far more than what people commonly refer to as a positive or can-do attitude. This was a demonstration of just how much influence the Spirit of God can have on our level of expectation in life. Caleb was not boasting about his strengths or savvy to deal with adversity. He was, however, speaking from the position of faith and absolute trust in God’s ability to supply, equip and defend.

Joshua observed this in Caleb’s heart, and with a heart like that, God can do so much. Paul charged the saints in Ephesus to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind” which is the same thing . . . to allow the indwelling spirit to have complete access to your thinking and viewpoints. This admonition pertains to our entire Christian walk, but as seen in Caleb, is especially important the older we get.

(to be continued)