A Wholehearted Life
Nov 22 2024 - Eric Buresh
I’ve been reading through the book of Joshua over the last couple weeks. Each time I read a book something different catches my attention. This time my attention kept going back to what some might consider a supporting actor – Caleb. Reading Joshua 14:6-12, I saw that at the age of 85 years old, Caleb was energetic and full of zeal for the Lord. We have a few examples of folks like that in our church, and I pray that I can be like that someday. It got me thinking, what was Caleb like that positioned him for this enduring zeal? Searching around a little, I saw that Caleb was consistently described as one who “followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (Deuteronomy 1:36; Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14).
What does it mean to follow God wholeheartedly? Caleb’s life demonstrates a man that lived his life wholly based on faith – a dependent trust in God. We all know many people who are content to follow God from afar, to trust Him in their words but not in their deeds. Caleb’s life (his deeds/actions) showed that he fully trusted God. There was no doubting God. When ten spies believed what their eyes showed them – giants -- Caleb believed God’s words. He trusted that if God had spoken, God would perform it. This is what it means to follow God wholeheartedly—to trust His promises 100% despite what we see, what we think, or what we fear. Oh, that we would have such faith! The world says, “Look at the giants!” But wholehearted faith says, “Look at our God, for giants are but grasshoppers to Him.”
Caleb followed the Lord, even when it meant standing alone. He and Joshua stood against the scared crowd, believing God over the crowd mentality. To follow fully often means we stand alone, trusting in God while the faithless and the doubters tremble. It is not numbers or popular opinion that prove the truth, but God’s words. The wholehearted believe them unequivocally and act accordingly. In Caleb’s wholeheartedness, he held nothing back. A half-hearted person will tend toward half-measures or following only when it otherwise suits their view of how things should be. A whole-hearted follower does not have one hand on the plow and another on this world. Caleb followed with both hands holding God’s promises, nothing held back based on his own observational “wisdom.”
For me, it gives me great comfort to see that Caleb’s faith was not a fleeting spark; it was a steadfast flame. In his old age, he still declared, “Give me this mountain that the Lord promised me!” There was still no doubt in him. He followed God with full faith and zeal not only at forty but at eighty-five, remaining as fervent as ever. It is all too common to see people begin well but fall away with time. But Caleb was as firm in his final days as in his youth. To follow the Lord fully is to follow Him always. Whether you are young or old, I urge you to seek this same lifelong unequivocal trust in God that we call faith. Hold nothing back in some sense of false safety. As we like to say around Grace: Go all in. Be a wholehearted follower – be a Caleb.