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As we’ve been studying the Lord’s prayer together, I hope the model has enriched your prayer life as it has mine and as it has for so many brothers and sisters down through the generations. When I follow the model prayer in my prayer time, one thing that has really benefited my heart’s relationship with the Father is to add an emphasis on thanksgiving. This too was regularly modeled in Christ’s prayers.

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).

As I continue to meditate on the nature of eternal life, I’d like us to consider a prophecy that stirs the soul and lifts the weary heart. In Isaiah 35, the prophet foresees a time of renewal—a time when wilderness places blossom and the weak are made strong. It is a vision of salvation, healing, and restoration which Jesus Christ alone fulfills as He noted in Luke 7:18-23 and Matthew 11:4-5.

David, under the starlit heavens, pondered the majesty of God. His eyes beheld the vastness of creation, and his heart swelled with wonder: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4) Amid the grandeur of God’s creation, David asks, Why would God concern Himself with us? This question is important for all of us to regularly consider.

“The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). What joy fills my heart to write of “The Greatest Gift”!  We need only look to John 3:16 to see the fullness of this gift: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Here we see God is not one who takes, but one who gives. He is a Giver by nature, and the gift He gives is the greatest imaginable—eternal life in Christ!