QT 27 Dec 16, Josh 14:10-12, Stay in the battle, now is not the time to retire

Joshua 14:10–12 (ESV) — 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

NOTE: Why does it not surprise me? Caleb, the other spy besides Joshua, who argued 45 years earlier to take the land, wants to go against the Anakim, the very "giants," who had scared off the other 10 spies 45 years earlier. He does not choose an area already conquered where he can go, settle quickly, and enjoy his older years, no, Caleb chooses the hardest of the areas. He doesn't quit working. He doesn't retire. He is still in the battle. He still has faith to trust God for victory. I imagine Caleb as an 85-year old hammer, a hard man, who is always go-go-go, charge-charge-charge. Of course, the scripture does not necessarily give us that picture. In fact, Caleb is content to fight the battle, even if God does not give the victory, "It may be that the Lord will be with me, …" As Americans, it is a natural part of our culture to look forward to the days of retirement as days of rest and leisure. There are studies out comparing people of the same age who retire and those who do not retire from work. Those who retire have a shorter life span than those who do not retire (at the same age) and accounting for health factors that might influence the decision. I don't think retiring is wrong, but I do think that not working is unwise. In other words, even in our retirement, there are things we can be doing. We can volunteer; we can serve in ministries, we can do part-time work. We can stay involved in life. We do have a retirement, the most glorious and unimaginable joy, but it is reserved for when the Lord brings us home.