Day 22 in the Wilderness: Be willing to stake your claim.

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.””

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭13:30-33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The California Gold Rush began in January of 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. This discovery would bring over 300,000 people from the United States and abroad to seek their fortune. It is estimated that over 750,000 pounds of gold were found during this period of time.

Part of the process toward mining the gold was something known as “staking your claim.” This practice involved actually putting out markers around the ground being claimed for mining rights. After the land was staked, you then had to make it to the mining office to file the claim to the staked territory. As you might imagine, there was much competition and effort to sabotage and steal claims from prospectors.

These people found gold and they did what it took to lay claim on it. Interestingly, Jesus told a parable about someone discovering a treasure and finding a way to secure it.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:44‬ ‭AMP‬‬

We have been given many great and precious promises by our Lord. These promises have been ratified in Jesus Christ. But, we must stake our claim to what the Lord has given us, or else, we may find ourselves being looted by the enemy.

Today we see the story of Caleb, one of the two spies who brought a good report back from Canaan.

The Lord had promised land to His people; their part was to go in and take ownership.

When others fainted at the challenges between them and their promise, Joshua and Caleb did not.

The men who would not stake their claim to the Promised Land, lost their promise, and their lives with it.

“According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ””

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭14:34-35‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Alternatively, Joshua and Caleb were blessed. Because of his willingness to stake his claim, Caleb would receive his promise.

“because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭14:22-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Tomorrow we will look further into Caleb‘s promise.

For today write this in your “wilderness journal”

Be willing to stake your claim.

#40daysinthewilderness