Every year is distinct, each one since the time we were born until now. Here is a man that recognized what most of us take for granted. Hey! We’re still alive!
Caleb stated it right. “The Lord hath kept me alive.” It had been a long journey wandering through the wilderness. He and Joshua were the only ones from that generation who made it through. They gave the faithful report. While they said we can take the land, the 10 other spies said it couldn’t be done. The people listed to the ten. It had been a tough one. This has been some year for all of us. We too can say “the Lord hath kept me alive.”
Joshua 14: 10 “And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”
There they are. Caleb is 85 years old. He’s looking at the leader of Israel. He and Joshua were good friends, but Caleb didn’t get jealous when Joshua was chosen to be leader after Moses died. The time of conquering came. The Promised Land was taken. Basically Caleb said “I’m still alive and fit as ever.” He had strength to go out and strength to come in. The Lord kept him alive.
We have lived through 2009, another year—365 days, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour and 60 seconds a minute. Through every second we’ve lived. We may have felt half dead sometimes, but we really have to say “I’m still alive.” All we can actually say is the Lord has kept us alive.
Life is more than abundance of possessions or lack of them. It’s more than health. These don’t determine our life. It’s our relationship with God that counts. My throat is permanently altered. My collar bone is a little shorter. I’m a little older. It’s the life experiences that make us recognize every moment and what it means. Each breath came from God. The minutes came; some were good, some were sorrowful. All of it is part of life. Through it all, the giver of life has been there.
God promised Caleb he’d live. Nothing else and no one else keeps us alive but God. He uses doctors and medicine, but in themselves they cannot keep us alive. God is responsible for it all. We may have felt we couldn’t go on, but the Lord kept us alive. It means we’ve been taken care of. We been protected and kept safe. Who knows how many dangers we could have been in this year, but the end of 2009 is here and we’re still alive. We’re alive for a purpose.
God has been with us, and he’s been over us. He’s been our God. He’s looked over our lives and may have hedged us toward another direction many times. He turned us around. We should praise the Lord as Caleb did and say “the Lord has kept me alive.” At the end of 2008 the Lord promised to be with us; we made it through 2009—we’re still alive.
There have been lessons learned. Life is precious. With every breath God trusts us with the moments. Let’s not take for granted the life we’ve been given. He gave us life. Let’s turn around and give our life back to him.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 