I want to be like Caleb

There is a man in the bible who stands out from his peers.  He's one of two men who both left Egypt and entered the promised land.  He and Joshua were the only men who "followed God fully" and his name was Caleb.  As they conquered the promised land he came to Joshua with these words,

“Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, 8 but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. 9 So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

10 “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

13 So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. 14 Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. (Joshua 14)

Caleb did something few have done.  He walked by faith in God's word and didn't waver.  He followed the Lord wholeheartedly.  (I'm sure you noted the three times that was mentioned.)  Caleb claimed those words as the commentary on his life and repeated them often.  

One act of faith against a nation of doubters put him in a unique place of honor. Out of millions who died in the desert Caleb lived on and was one of two old men who entered Israel as they came into the promise land.  How did he do it?  He believed God.

I want to be like him!  When God tells me something in his word I want to believe it, live as if it were true (because it is) and follow the Lord fully.  

There are few like Caleb in our day.  May we be like  him and fully trust God as we live our lives in the midst of a world of doubt.