The Word of God tells us that Caleb wholly followed after God. Numbers 32:11-12 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ The context of Caleb’s wholehearted following is found in this story – Numbers 13:25-33 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Here we see God’s nation Israel who were given a promise by God their Father being terrified by sight instead of walking by faith. We can say that wholehearted following is walking by faith and not by sight. It is laying hold of what God has said and believing Him. Caleb believed God and it is evident in his speech by saying “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” In our context as we have been learning of our identity and becoming planted in the reality of life in Christ it is to believe what God has said. John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our LORD is telling us to have peace in HIM despite tribulations. Are some of us cowering in fear because of the crisis that surrounds us or are we like Caleb walking boldly towards the end of days knowing that it is in HIM we have peace. This is following wholly after God. Let us go back to identify the Source of the directive that took the 12 spies to the promised land. Numbers 13:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” The LORD was the source of the directive. Here is God telling Moses to send these men to spy the land. When God sends us, He expects us to speak exactly as He has spoken. Imagine God the creator of heaven and earth being told that Anak is very powerful, who is more powerful than God? This story is making us aware that we should have correct knowledge of God. That is wholehearted following. In Numbers 14:1-9 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the and, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” We see the reaction of Israel is full of fear and unbelief. The response of Caleb and Joshua is faith and fear of the LORD. This is wholehearted following. Numbers 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. A person with a different spirit is a person who sees as God sees and obeys Him , that person will live in the promises of God. Joshua 14:10-14 “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 wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 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. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there, and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. Father God, we thank You for Your promises that are Yes and Amen. You are our Promise and our Inheritance. Our Father impart to us the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know You through our deepening intimacy with You. We pray that Your light LORD God will illuminate the eyes of our imagination, flooding each of us with light, until we experience the full revelation of the hope of Your calling —and fully know the riches of the glory of Your inheritance among us -Your saints. We yield Holy Ghost to the formation of Christ deep within us for in Him wholehearted following of our Father is found. We pray and believe in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ our LORD and our Savior. Amen.