Focal Passage: Joshua 14:1-15
Do you want to finish well? Have you ever given much thought to how you will finish your race?
It is always tragic when someone or something does not finish well. As an unfortunate fan of the Atlanta Falcons, I know this feeling all too well. I grew up just south of Atlanta, and as a kid I vividly remember watching Falcons games every Sunday after church. In 2017, the Falcons played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. During the third quarter, I was on cloud nine because Atlanta was leading 28-3. I was convinced the Falcons were about to win their first Super Bowl championship.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The Falcons collapsed and lost the game in overtime. To this day, many people remember that team not for how well they played for most of the game, but for how they finished. Whether fair or not, their legacy became tied to their finish.
There is an important truth for us to consider today: Often our legacy is shaped by how we finish.
In Joshua 14, Joshua is distributing the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel. It is in this moment that we get a glimpse of Caleb’s desire to finish well.
To fully appreciate Caleb’s story, we need to remember what happened years earlier. In verses 6–10, Caleb recalls the first time Israel stood at the edge of the Promised Land. Twelve spies were sent into the land, but ten returned with a fearful report. They spoke of fortified cities and powerful giants, causing the hearts of the people to melt with fear. Rather than trusting God, the nation rebelled and refused to enter the land.
As a result, Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years.
Caleb was forty years old when that happened. Imagine spending decades wandering in the wilderness because of the unbelief and disobedience of others. Many people would have become bitter, cynical, or discouraged. Yet Caleb remained faithful to the Lord.
Not only did Caleb remain faithful, but he also remained full of faith. At eighty-five years old, he stood before Joshua and declared, “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me” (Josh. 14:11). Then he made an astonishing request: “Give me this hill country.”
What was in that hill country? The very land occupied by the giants and fortified cities that had terrified the other spies decades earlier. Caleb did not ask for the easiest assignment. He wanted the challenge because he trusted the God who had been faithful to him throughout his life. What a beautiful picture of finishing well.
How will you finish your race?
Life is filled with trials, disappointments, temptations, and hardships. Yet believers have been given the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to persevere in faith and obedience. Like Caleb, we can trust God’s promises regardless of our age or circumstances.
Do not believe the lie that you are too old, too young, too weak, or too insignificant to be used by God. As long as God gives you breath, He has a purpose for your life. Finish well today. Remain faithful to the Lord. Walk by faith, not by fear. We never know where our finish line may be, but by God’s grace we can strive to cross it faithfully. B&R