“Follow Jehovah With All Our Hearts” (10 min.)
In this highly competitive world, a person who is over 40 or 50 no longer has a place in a job or in something that can perform it correctly, but for the world no longer, he is a very old person. How different is Jehovah! He commissioned, used very old people from our point of view to do a job that perhaps others could not do.
For example, Moses. He began his activity as a liberator around the age of 80. What did the prophet Daniel tell you when Belshazzar called him to interpret the Scripture on the wall he was about 90 years old. And what about the apostle John, almost 100 years old, he received the revelation from God.
Of the character that we are going to talk about this time. He was also someone of many years, Caleb's. In this section of Treasures of the Bible, titled "Let Us Follow Jehovah with All Our Hearts," we will speak like this servant of God. At the age of seventy-nine he crossed the Jordan River to begin supporting Israel's conquest of Canaan.
How did you get this? It was certainly not easy at all. Caleb was Josué's partner. When Moses sent as young men to spy out the land, they were the only two who brought good reports.
LET'S READ: Joshua 14: 7,8
I was 40 years old when Jehovah's servant Moses sent me from Cades-Barnea to spy out the land, and I returned with a frank and honest report. 8 And although my brothers who went up with me made the people cringe, I followed Jehovah my God with all my heart.
What a beautiful reminder, Caleb speaking to Josué, He only knew very well because he was his partner. And he made it clear why he did it from that relative youth, because he followed Jehovah his God with all his heart.
The same is true of many of our brothers in the organization who have served Jehovah from a very young age and have remained strong by serving shoulder to shoulder with the younger ones. The fact that someone becomes of age does not mean that they are discarded in the organization, rather it is valuable because they have a wealth of knowledge and experience that many of us would like to have.
And in Caleb's case, when he addressed Joshua in front of the people, he was asking for something that not just anyone would do. He wasn't trying to get favoritism from a good acquaintance of his like Josué, but rather he was asking for a rather complicated assignment.
LET'S READ: Joshua 14: 10-12
And now Jehovah, just as he promised, has kept me alive these 45 years since Jehovah made that promise to Moses when Israel was walking in the wilderness; and I'm still here today, 85 years old. 11 And I'm as strong now as the day Moses sent me. I still have the same strength as back then, both for war and for other things. 12 So give me this mountainous region that Jehovah promised me that day. Although that day you heard that the Anakim were there with large fortified cities, surely Jehovah will be with me and I will drive them out, just as Jehovah promised. "
Well, here we are listening to an 85-year-old person who felt with the same energy as when he was young. But what was their support? As it was well said in verse 12 "surely the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out."
And those he had to expel were the Anaquim, men of enormous stature, very brave, warriors skilled in battle. They knew them. Both Joshua and Caleb personally told them when they went to spy out the promised land. And it was one of the causes of spreading terror among the inhabitants of Israel when they said that they had seen huge people compared to those that existed in the pre-flood times.
But here you see a man who, although older, is not asking for anything easy. But why did he dare to do that? Because he trusted in Jehovah, because his heart kept straight towards God. So it was. He managed to conquer the city of Hebron, which later became a city of refuge.
This shows us, brothers, that we have so many brothers in the organization, older than them, they do not shirk any theocratic assignment, however difficult it may be. Not only them. If we are younger, we also want to be courageous, face complicated situations that could look like a somewhat huge Anakin, but if we follow Jehovah with all our heart, we can achieve it.
LET'S READ: Joshua 14: 13,14
So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. 14 That is why Hebron belongs to Caleb the son of Jephune the Quenizite as an inheritance to this day, because he followed Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart.
This pair of friends and servants of God, Joshua and Caleb, really liked the benefits of serving God. Caleb asked for a far from easy assignment, but it was not solely up to him, as he rightly put it. It depended on Jehovah's support.
We also want to do the same. If you are offered an assignment that seems difficult to fulfill. Remember, age has nothing to do with whether it is realized or not, but whether we follow Jehovah with all our hearts.
If you have an older brother or sister in your congregation, why not reach out and have a conversation so that you really come out stronger? They are brothers who have seen so many changes in the organization that they have seen progress thanks to Jehovah's blessing, and they are brothers who are sometimes the first to arrive at the Kingdom Hall or be present at meetings.
They are the ones who do not tire of being in preaching despite their physical ailments. Sometimes they are the ones who remain as pioneers until the end of their lives, because they are Christians who follow Jehovah with all their hearts. Next time you are able to speak with one of them, give them the grace for being a good example of faithfulness within our congregation.
And although our main model is Jesus, but these brothers are the living models that we have in our sight of people who have spent as much in the service of Jehovah as Caleb, and who have perhaps their energies a little weakened, but their hearts complete for God.
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