Caleb is one of my biblical heroes. We don't know much about him. He never stopped growing. His name, suggests one scholar, means 'all heart' - he reminds us of Bunyan's character Mr Greatheart.

Caleb 'took life by the throat' and confronted difficulties head-on. At age 85 he comes to Joshua asking for the personal allotment of land promised by Moses. He had a right to sit down and take it easy - take off his army boots and put on his slippers. He'd survived 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and then the invasion of Canaan. Of the thousands who'd left Egypt, he and Joshua were the only ones the Lord allowed to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

Apparently the Israelites picked up various groups and clans as they journeyed towards Canaan. One of these was Caleb's. He was a Kenizzite, an Edomite, which means he was a descendent of Esau rather than Jacob, and he and his clan got assimilated into the tribe of Judah. Despite his adverse pedigree Caleb, because of his outstanding leadership gifts, rose to a position of some prominence among the tribes of Israel. He refused to be 'a prisoner of his scripting'.

Lord, may I never stop growing, never give up, never give in. Amen.