"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 14:24 NKJV).

This is my favorite verse in Numbers. I like it because God is praising a man who had a different spirit than others in Israel. Caleb was one of the spies whom God sent into the land of Canaan. He urged immediate action feeling that they were well able to overcome the inhabitants, but the bad report of the faithless spies ruled the day. But because Caleb had "a different spirit" in him, and because he followed God with all his heart, he and his descendants inherited the land.

Christians should have a "different spirit" in them too. Negativism and pessimism is not a spiritual gift. At the age of 85 Caleb was still asking for mountains to be conquered (Joshua 14). His "can do" spirit did not diminish with age. I want to have "a different spirit" in me, don't you? I want to follow God fully, don't you? I want to enter that eternal land of rest, don't you? We can - and we will - if we maintain the positive spirit of expectancy and follow God with all our heart!

Prayer: Holy Father, we admire men who possessed a different spirit and followed You completely. We want that above all things in our lives. Empower us by Your Holy Spirit this day to have a different spirit in us. Through Christ we pray.