‘LAY HOLD OF THE PURPOSE OF GOD’
D. B. Bodman
Caleb is a very interesting man. He, along with one other, stood for God when things looked very black. He was a man who had gone into the land and he said it was “a very, very good land”. At a time when the people were seeking to rebel, Caleb sought to still them by bringing in the mind
of God for the moment. At that time Caleb was a comparatively young man but here he is an old man. Our brother and sister are young, but there are those who have gone on in the testimony and would encourage the young ones to go in for what is heavenly, go in for what is true. I have often said that one impression I had from an old brother in Birmingham was what he said he heard Mr. Raven say, ‘Young man, lay hold of the purpose of God. You may deviate from it, but He will bring you back to it’. Caleb was a man who laid hold of the whole purpose of God and thus he could still the people. God could speak of him as a man of another spirit, one who had fully followed Jehovah (Numbers 14: 24). Oh that each one of us, brothers and sisters, old and young, might wholly follow Jehovah.
So here we have Caleb encouraging a young man. The older ones would encourage those that are younger to go in for what is spiritual, to bring out the gems, to bring out what is in the land in attractiveness. This young man had some sense, typically, of what the assembly is as secured for the heart of Christ. He could take this city and he gets a wife. Our brother has taken a wife, but here Othniel’s wife asks for something, and I would encourage our sister to ask for the supply of the Spirit, which these springs would speak to us of. It says, “Caleb gave her the upper springs”. I think it would be the Spirit in connection with what is spiritual, what is heavenly, what is of the land, and that comes first. May our brother and sister lay hold on that first. I would encourage them to put God’s interests first and then He will come in for their interests. Some of us have experienced that in a little way. So the Spirit would be available as the upper springs, what is heavenly. Oh that we might all have the land in our hearts!
Then it also says, “and the lower springs”.
The Spirit is able for the every-day needs of our pathway, which I believe relates to the lower springs. He is able for that side of our pathway. As our brother and sister set out in their new path together they will need the help of the Spirit in the every-day realities of life, the ‘ups and downs’ as we say, the joys and the sorrows. The Spirit is able for that side too and He is also able to lead us into the heavenly side—the land. May we all be encouraged, and especially our brother and sister as setting up their house together, for His name’s sake.
Words at the marriage of Mr. A. Alexander and Miss I. Buchan, Peterhead
22 August 1986