Joshua 14:6-9 – Wholehearted Devotion

Here Caleb recalls the episodes from Numbers 13-14, when Moses had sent twelve spies to investigate the land of Canaan. The majority of the spies brought back a report that “made the heart of the people melt”. In their opinion, the cities of Canaan were highly fortified and their warriors were immense – Israel would be like a school rugby team facing the All Blacks! Caleb, however, had the courage back then to go against the flow: “Yet I wholly followed the LORD my God”. That is the wholehearted devotion of faith. Caleb, along with Joshua, had the courage to take a stand against the majority (Num. 13:30) – even though it nearly cost him his life (see Num. 14:6-10). Caleb’s attitude was: ‘We can possess the land; the LORD is with us; stop fearing those big bruisers’.

Caleb’s wholehearted devotion to God required courage: a willingness to stand against the crowd. His devotion of faith led to loneliness of faith, as is often the case. A Christian young person may experience this loneliness of faith when they are ‘left out’ because they go against the immoral flow of their culture. A Christian employee may experience this isolation when they tell their boss they must either resign or be transferred because they refuse to participate in something dodgy. God’s people must be prepared: devoted faith frequently means lonely faith. Paul spoke of a time when everyone deserted him (2 Tim. 4:16 – though in the next verse he adds: “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me”).

In the days ahead in the Promised Land, as the Israelites failed to completely wipe out the infectiously sinful Canaanites, those who were devoted to the LORD probably felt the pressure to conform and to compromise (see Judges 2:11-15). Standing alone would be hard. But they could remember the example of Caleb. Will you be a Caleb? Is your following of God wholehearted or half-hearted?