Caleb had a Different Spirit. Do you?

Do you remember the Bible story about Joshua, Caleb and the other leaders who were sent to scope out the Promised Land ahead of the Israelite community? I remember being in Sunday School as a little girl hearing about the giants in the land, the huge grapes, and the land flowing with "milk and honey." That description always made me hungry!

If you aren't familiar with this story, you can find it in Numbers 13-14. God told Moses to send a leader from each tribe to scout out the land He was giving them. They did and came back to report a land that sounded pretty doggone good!

BUT...these same men also weren't too excited about the prospect of taking over that land from its current inhabitants. They told the whole community that there was no way they were stronger than the people living in the land. They went so far as to describe themselves as "grasshoppers" compared to the giants living there. (13:33) As usual, everyone started to moan and complain.

Oh, how quickly we forget the power of God!!

Caleb, however, didn't agree with the others. In verse 30 he says, " We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

Why would he say such a thing when he'd seen the same land and people as the others had?

God gives us the answer to that question in Numbers 14:24.

"But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."

Caleb didn't doubt for a moment that God would go with them to defeat the people in the land. Because of his faith, Caleb and Joshua would be the only Israelite men--out of the millions present that day--to reach the Promised Land. Why? Because God would not allow those who didn't trust Him to enter in. Not even Moses. Because of their failure to trust and obey God, the Israelites were forced to wander the desert for forty years, until a whole generation died.

What can we learn from Caleb and the Israelites?

1. God will bless us when we Trust and Obey Him and follow Him wholeheartedly! We will reach our Promised Land!

2. God will punish us when we don't Trust and Obey Him! We will never see our Promised Land.

It's a pretty simple lesson, no?

Caleb had a different spirit. Do you?