Give me this mountain.
—Joshua 14:12
John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, once said that by their mid-thirties most people have stopped acquiring new skills and new attitudes.
That should give us grayheads pause. Are we still learning, still growing, still stepping up to new challenges?
Have a look at eighty-five-year-old Caleb’s story in Joshua 14. At a time when the pace and comfort of retirement had been hard-earned and well-deserved, Caleb knew that vegetating in a recliner wasn’t for him. He requested Canaan’s most challenging post—the hill country, populated with fierce giants. “Give me this mountain,” he said.
On the last day of my life, I hope I learn something new, do something productive, and become a better man.
If you’re not still growing,
you’re slowly dying.