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Day 63, or March the 4th. Retire or not? That

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is the question. Our thoughts today are from

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Joshua chapter 14, verses 11 and 12. I'm still

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as strong today as the day Moses sent me out.

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I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now

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as I was then. Now give me this hill country

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that the Lord promised me that day. you yourself

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heard then that the anarchites were there and

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their cities were large and fortified but the

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lord helping me i will drive them out. First the

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big picture surrounding these verses. There is

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much detail about land boundaries given in the

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book of joshua These are exciting days for the

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children of Israel and God wanted there to be

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no doubts that each tribe was given their due

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allocation which confirmed God's fairness and

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sense of equality. Now our action step for today.

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Caleb, who was eighty -five years old when the

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land was being divided amongst the tribes, had

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a privileged place as one of the two faithful

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spies who survived the wilderness wanderings,

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and were then able to enter the promised land.

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He was offered a portion of land, and Joshua,

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his fellow spy, allowed him to choose. As an

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old man, Caleb acted like a youngster. He didn't

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want an easy path, but preferred a challenge.

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None of this retirement stuff for Caleb. None

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of this easing down due to old age. What an example

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to all of us. Of course, we are not all physically

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able to respond like him, but the principle of

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keeping going for God is clear. A question many

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are asking today is, how old will I be before

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I'm able to retire? If Caleb were here, he would

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interject and demand a testing job that, with

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God's help, he would be able to do to the glory

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of God. Retirement is not a biblical concept.

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Some may point to Numbers 8 .25, which reads,

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And they must retire at the age of fifty. But

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read on into the next verse, which tells us,

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After retirement, they may assist their fellow

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Levites by serving as guards at the tabernacle.

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So, biblically, a change of job is allowed, but

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an inactive retirement doesn't seem to be an

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option.