Qualities of a Convicted Heart
The value of life is not its duration but its donation. God’s servant Caleb waited 40 years to complete his calling. What were the qualities of his generous heart?
Time passes so quickly. Scripture says, "Life is like a mist, appearing for a little while then vanishing." Many young people assume that life gets easier the older you get, and maybe it does for some. However, as the years pass, most realize that the longer we go, the harder it gets!
But most of us agree that no matter how difficult it may get, most want to keep living. We want one more day. We fight for five more minutes to experience life because God has wired us that way. We all want to go to heaven, but just not right now. I'm so grateful God set eternity in our hearts because I believe there are many days we would've successfully quit if God hadn't kept His wanting in our hearts.
But aside from just living long, we should also want to live well. For some of those reading this, God has given you both gifts! Some of you have already lived long, and you have lived well. You're a blessing to those around you.
We must remember that no matter what age we are, "the value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation" (Myles Munroe). It is not as important how long we live as how well or effective we live. Sometimes God grants us the gifts of both duration and donation. We live long and well for God, and that's Caleb's inspiring story in Numbers 13-14 and Joshua 14.
This story tells us not only about Caleb's gray head but his great heart. In Numbers 14, we see God give Caleb a compliment that would make any saint blush.
"But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly (fully), I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it." (Numbers 14:24)
Caleb's life was a donation, a free and generous gift to those around him and the Kingdom of God because of several qualities he possessed. What made Caleb's life a donation?
4 Qualities of a Generous Heart
1) A Different Spirit
When God says different, He means "not like the rest." When Moses called him at 40 to be one of 12 Scouts to spy out the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb were the only two to come back with good reports. Caleb said, yes, we're going to face some challenges, but we can take the land because God called us to take it.
When you're called to something, God will equip you. You'll be provided with His power because it's not about what we can do. It's not about our mind or our power but about what your Spirit can do through us.
Caleb wasn't a bellyacher; he was a believer. According to his convictions, the text says he brought back a good report (Joshua 14:7). What were Caleb's convictions? He believed in God. He had a different amount of courage than the rest.
I don't know if you've been told this, but you need courage if you're going to live well in this life. You need courage to face the day and depend on the Holy Spirit. His courage level was so different from everybody else. His mind, heart, and attitude were on the Lord.
2) Wholeheartedly
Many of us give lip service to following God, but we forget that God pays particular attention to how we follow Him.
When climbing spiritual mountains, and by that, I mean when life presents impossible or difficult circumstances, are you trusting God wholeheartedly? Are you trusting Him to lead you the whole way to the top?
Fast forward 45 years, God has raised a new generation of people, and He recalls Caleb. He's now 85 years old, and God wants him to complete the unfinished business of taking the land. Caleb celebrated the privilege of still being a part of what God was doing. He said, "Just as the Lord has promised, He has kept me alive for forty-five years while Israel moved about in the desert" (14:10).
Notice, Caleb didn't just happen to be alive. The Lord kept him alive for His purposes. How many of you recognize that God has preserved your life or kept you alive for His purposes?
There are still giants to be faced (old and new), mountains to be climbed, and things the enemy has stolen to be taken back. We need to pray for a different spirit and a wholehearted desire to follow the Lord when things aren't easy but the toughest.
3) Vision
Vision has to do with what our image and our hope for the future will be. Caleb had God's vision. He said in verse 12, "Now give me this hill country (mountain) that the Lord promised me that day."
For 45 years, Caleb nurtured his vision that God would fulfill the promise that was made to him when he was 40 years old. Caleb had 45 years of disappointments, trying to lead God's people into the promised land, yet his spirit was not embittered. He still believed in God, and he still knew His promises were going to become a reality.
The older I get, the more I find myself praying, "Lord, help there be fewer blind spots in my life." I don't want to hinder the legacy that God wants to leave with my life. I pray that God would give me vision because, without vision, His people perish. We should pray that God would help us to see spiritually again, not who we are only in you, but who God is and what He can do. We want to see Him work and be part of the revival He's sending.
4) Vitality
A lack of vision drains us, but its abundance produces remarkable vitality. The scripture says that our outer person is wasting away, but inwardly we're being renewed daily. Caleb was an example of that because in Joshua 14:11, he says, "Lord, I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vital to go out to battle now as I was then."
We know Caleb was still vital because, when Joshua gave Caleb his inherited land of Hebron, the Bible says he went forth and killed the three greatest giants left and a fourth, their father, Arba (14:15, 15:14). So it sounds like a man who had some spunk and spice left.
The Lord's Call at Any Age
You will have mountains in your life. Because you grow in age and believe you've grown wiser, the adversary will not leave you alone. Most of the people in the Bible that failed did so in the second half of their life. You're still on the enemy's hit list, but I hope the Lord is still on your heart list. It is easy to become so weary and drained that we give up. We must not. God is not done. We must not be done. We must respond to God's call at any age and stage like Caleb by choosing to have a different spirit, following the Lord wholeheartedly with vision and vitality.
TL;DR
It’s a common misconception that life gets easier as we get older.
Myles Munroe said, "The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation.”
Caleb was a servant of God who waited more than 40 years to finish God’s calling.
Caleb's life was a donation, a free and generous gift to those around him and the Kingdom of God because of several qualities he possessed. What made Caleb's life a donation?
Four qualities of generous heart:
A Different Spirit
Wholeheartedness
Vision
Vitality
Related Reading
How Do I Find My Mission In Life by Grant Caldwell
What’s My Purpose? by Bro. Chris Carter
Four Reminders to Finding Courage by Bro. Chris Carter
About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services