A Coveted Spirit

C.H. Spurgeon writes of the Old Testament saint Caleb," It is a rough name—"Caleb." Most translators say it signifies "a dog." But what mattereth a man's name? Possibly the man himself was somewhat rough: many of the heartiest of men are so. As the unpolished oyster yet beareth within itself the priceless pearl, so ofttimes ruggedness of exterior covereth worth. A dog, moreover, is not all badness, though 'Without are dogs and sorcerers.' It hath this virtue, that it followeth its master; and therein this Caleb was well-named; for never dog so followed his master as Caleb followed his God." 

One of the last times I saw my beloved mentor, Dr. Joe Henry Hankins, alive was when I picked him up at his motel. It was the last night of a revival he was holding at my home church. As I waited for him in his room as he readied to leave, I asked him if he would preach a sermon that night just for me. To which he replied, "Sonny boy, I'll do just that." That evening, when he announced his sermon title, he told the people he was going to preach a message on, "The Man Who Served God Eighty-Five Years and Never Failed Him Once."

Paul told us to "covet the best gifts," I have always coveted Caleb's spirit. I want nothing to do with the spirit that says, "We be not able." I desire that of Caleb's clan, "We be more than able." Nor do I wish to see giants, I want to see past them, as the old war horse, and see God! Only those with with "another spirit," "wholly follow the Lord." And possess all their possessions given them as their inheritance by God. 

You can always spot  a Caleb spirit: it is a courageous spirit; it is a God-honoring spirit; it is faithful spirit; it is a different spirit; it is a spirit whose faith is undaunted with time; it is a spirit that is willing to run the long gamut against popular opinion for forty years. IT IS A SPIRIT THAT DOESN'T HAVE "QUIT" IN ITS VOCABULARY!