Give Me the Hill
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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. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me (vv.11-12).
I climbed 3 meters up the massive wooden pole and froze in fear. The platform was still 10 meters higher. From the ground, a small crowd was yelling encouragement. “You can do it!” they shouted. “I know I can,” I replied. “I’m just not sure I want to.”
But I knew I had to because two of the encouragers were Al and Thelma, a couple of 75 year olds who had made the climb and rode the zip wire cable while strapped into their harnesses just moments before. They were adorable as they stepped off the twin platforms and sailed down the parallel wires together. Al confessed that he was too scared to feel the romance, but his example meant there was no way I could back down. So when my wife shouted encouragement to me from her pole, I told myself, “Don’t look down!” and started climbing.
I’m glad I overcame my fear of heights that day, but I’m even happier that I made friends with Al and Thelma—senior saints who haven’t lost their enthusiasm for life. They remind me of Caleb, who believed the Lord’s promise when others saw only giants in the land (Numbers 13:30). “Don’t be afraid of them!” he told the Israelites. “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us safely into that land and give it to us” (Numbers 14:8).
Decades later—at the retirement age of 85—Caleb had not given up on his dream (Joshua 14:10). Perhaps he was hearing whispers that he should put away his sword, for he told Joshua that not only could he still fight, but he preferred the challenging “hill country” of the mighty Amalekites (v.12).
Do you know any Calebs? Honor them. Learn from them. Ask if you can fight alongside them as they take the next hill.
—Mike Wittmer
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Read Titus 2:1 to learn how young Christians should relate to older saints.
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What older Christians do you know who have retired to the sidelines? How might you encourage them to be active in their faith?
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