Caleb’s Retirement Plan
Retirement is defined as “the state of being retired from our occupation.” The state of our economy has many men and women wondering if they will ever be able to quit work and enjoy their retirement. Thinking about this got me to wondering when retirement became a part of our vocabulary. From an historical perspective, I suspect it is a fairly recent concept. In the past most people assumed they would work as long as they were able. The only person I read about in the Bible who announced his plans to retire was the rich man in the parable Jesus told in Luke 12 who planned to build bigger barns to store all his wealth and take his ease. We all know how that ended!
It may not be a popular thing to suggest, but it may be that we need to look into Caleb’s retirement plan that is described in the 14th chapter of Joshua. Caleb had spent his entire life helping his fellow Israelites conquer the land of Canaan. At the age of eighty-five he proposed this retirement plan to Joshua:
“I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim {i.e. giants} were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
Caleb’s retirement plan was based on his faith in God which had not wavered and his willingness to continue to serve the Lord. Our retirement plans may involve a change in our circumstances and even our schedule, but our plans should still be grounded on our faith in God and our unwavering commitment to continue to work for Him. Paul E. Jarrett
