Still Raring To Go

 

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very day it seems there are more and more advertisements concerning retirement.  As our population ages and the number of people attaining retirement age increases, companies, organizations, and financial institutions are beginning to take notice.  All types of products and services are springing up almost daily and people begin planning for retirement almost as soon as they begin planning for a career. 

 

Our concept of retirement, however, looks something like this.  As soon as one reaches that age of 65, he quits his job, enjoys a huge reception thanking him for his years of service to the company, he sells his home, buys a RV, cashes in his stocks, makes arrangements to receive his social security benefits and retirement pension, and heads off into the sunset to really enjoy living.  This is the view we have and the goal that most of us are working toward.  Yet, the Scriptures paint a very different picture of “retirement age.” 

 

Let’s take a look at the book of Joshua at a man named Caleb.  Caleb and Joshua were two of a group of 12 spies sent by Moses into the Promised Land to investigate it before the Israelites entered to conquer it.  After 40 days they returned to report.  All of the spies except Joshua and Caleb spoke against conquering the land because of the people who lived there.  They were large in stature and had fortified cities.  Only Joshua and Caleb believed the Lord and encouraged the people to obey God and take the land. 

 

Because the people decided to take the advice of the 10 dissenters over the encouragement of Joshua and Caleb, So, God condemned the Israelites to wonder in the desert for 40 years until everyone 20 years and older who left Egypt died. Only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the Promised Land from the original group who left Pharaoh’s grasp. 

 

The book of Joshua recounts how the Children of Israel entered and conquered the Promised Land.  In Joshua 14:10-11 we meet Caleb again, “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!  I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.” 

 

What a statement!  Caleb is still strong in the Lord’s service, still raring to go despite being 85 years old.  There is no retirement from the Lord’s work.  We will never finish living for Him and being His witnesses.  Unfortunately, too many Christians believe in retirement and no longer seek to serve God faithfully.  At a certain point, they believe the younger generation should shoulder the responsibility.  But nowhere do the Scriptures teach us to do this. 

 

Wherever you are in your walk today, I pray that Caleb’s enthusiasm and zeal burn within you. He was just as ready to labor for the Lord at 85 years of age as he had been at age 40.  Are you as enthusiastic today as you were when you first became a Christian?  Are you telling others about Jesus by your actions and the example you set for others?  Don’t adopt a retirement attitude toward your daily walk with God.  Are you still raring to go today?