Today I am eighty-five years old.  I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey. Joshua 14:11

          It was what the people of Israel had dreamed of for generations-freedom from their oppressors.  It was what they had longed for all their lives-a homeland.  And now it was within sight. 

          A group of twelve men were sent to do reconnaissance and report on the nature of the land and its inhabitants.  When they returned, ten of them gave a terrifying account of the size and might of the people they saw and warned against proceeding.  But two of the spies described a rich and prosperous land that was theirs for the taking because God was with them. 

One of them was a man named Caleb who at forty years old looked forward to building a life with his family in this new country.  But his dreams were dashed when Israel, gripped with fear by the report of the ten, decided en masse to abandon their plans to begin the invasion and occupation of the land of promise.

The resulting rebellion and unbelief brought a penalty from God that prohibited any of the adult Israelites of that generation from ever entering the Promised Land.  They would spend forty years as wanderers in the Sinai wilderness until all had died.except two.  And Caleb, because of his unwavering faith, would be one of them.  He would receive that which he had so strongly believed in.

But he would have to wait-forty-five years.  It would include forty years of nomadic living.  It would be forty years to wait, and work.and wonder.  The years passed by as he watched his contemporaries die around him.  Would he survive?  Would he have anything left with which to embrace and enjoy the promise?

But after forty-five years the fulfillment came.  A portion of the land Caleb had seen those many years earlier had rested in his memory ever since.  It was his dream to return and possess it.  He would have that opportunity.at eighty-five years old.  And he identifies the reason in his own words, I followed the Lord completely. (Joshua 14:6) 

 The life lesson of Caleb is the foundation of our faith.  God blesses those who obey him.completely.  We will never get cheated obeying God.  We will never lose by obeying God.  We will never be disappointed when all the returns are in if we obey God.

There will be delays.  There will be discouragement.  There will be doubts.  But the promise of God holds true.no matter how long it takes. You can be sure of it.

So after forty-five years Caleb arrives in the Promised Land just as strong, just as capable, and just as able to possess and experience the land of his dreams as ever.  God was faithful.  And so he readies himself to go and take that land of Hebron from the powerful Anakites.  He had no fear.  God had promised.