Word Play: Account Ability - Monday
Numbers 13:30
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” (NLT)
Way back in my college days (a whopping 4 years ago…), I worked extremely hard throughout the weekdays so that I could enjoy the weekends and not have to stress too much. In the same way that I worked diligently at school during the week, I would work on my fitness during the week. However, when Friday rolled around, it was cheat night! That meant that I would cram in as much good food as possible on Friday night. Salads were great throughout the week, but when Friday night rolled around, I really just wanted a large Papa John’s pizza. Yes, back in the day, I would regularly eat the whole thing…
As we arrive at our passage from Numbers today, we step into an epic scene in the Bible. The Israelites (God’s chosen people set apart to be a holy nation) are sending out spies to determine whether or not they can conquer the land that God had promised to give them. As these spies go out into this land, they quickly realize that these towns ahead of them will be tough to conquer. The cities are fortified, the people look big and strong, and there’s a lot of territory to conquer. Only two of the twelve spies that were sent out come back and advise the Israelites that they should try to conquer the land that God had promised to them—one of them being a man named Caleb. The other ten spies wanted to settle for wandering around aimlessly in the desert even though God had promised them this land.
My best friend in college was named Caleb and, coincidentally enough, he shares a lot of the same attributes of the Caleb we read about way back in the Old Testament—strong, bold, faithful, and courageous. Caleb in the Bible challenged the Israelites to go into the promised land and be faithful to what God was calling them to. My buddy Caleb challenged me to eat that large Papa John’s pizza only once a week. And along with eating well, he would also challenge me to workout, study my Bible, serve others, and do what God was calling me to do. We all needs friends like Caleb that challenge us.
Monday’s Reflection
Who’s in your circle that you trust to encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow? Shoot an encouraging text or email thanking your friend(s) that help you grow in your faith. If you don’t have any friends like that, we would love to get you connected to this kind of community through a group!