God said that Caleb was a man who wholly followed God. Word “Caleb” actually translates to dog. Like a dog Caleb was fully after his owner. A dog’s absolute joy is to be near his master.

1. Dog is always near his master.

God said that Caleb was a man who wholly followed God, like a dog is fully after his owner. A dog’s absolute joy is to be near his master. His obsession is not toys, tricks, or playing, but it is always his owner. You existed in God’s mind before He made you. Like we are fascinated with our pets and give them our time and money, God gives His time and resources for us. Unlike a dog, we often get bribed with shiny and exciting things, but they are just bones compared to the love and affection of our father. He is to be our number one passion. He ENJOYS your presence. You are called to enjoy Him, love Him, be fascinated by Him.

2. Dogs will go where the master goes.

Caleb did not follow the Promised Land, but he followed the Lord. He sought God more than any physical place. No matter how hard life gets, your passions take over, and if God is not your passion, you will fall away. God wants you to follow Him when you are successful and when you are struggling, and everywhere in between. Do NOT ever follow your heart, but follow God with your heart, and your heart will not lead you astray. A dog follows without question but with complete and entire trust. Likewise we must follow God, fully trusting His direction.

3. Dogs walk by scent not by sight.

Dogs’ sense of smell is incredibly greater than in humans. It ranges from 1,000 to 10,000,000 times better than our own. When the 10 spies went into the Promised Land, they saw giants, but Joshua smelled victory because he was led by faith, not by sight. When we follow God, we become like God, and God sees the spiritual and the future. When you walk with God, you will sharpen your spiritual senses. That is why we are called to walk by faith, not by sight.

4. Dogs forgive and forget.

They do not stay mad for more than 30 seconds, no matter what you do to him. Your quality of life is not a result of your circumstance. Harboring unforgiveness is a bitter root that drives you away from people and ultimately, from your master that you should be following. Happiness is a choice that can be made regardless of the situations we are going through.

5. A dog can be trained.

The potential of a great dog is within every dog, but training is required to bring that potential out of it. You do not get love and obedience, but you learn to be loving and obedient. Learning is training ourselves to hold to those truths and incorporating them into who we are. If you love God, EVERYTHING in your life will be used for your training. If you do not love God, and do not follow his calling, you will be frustrated and questioning Him. Like the prodigal son, and king Saul, they were not ready for the calling, we cannot step into our calling without preparation. But God prepared those who he calls to be able to overcome all trials that arise in life.

This blog was written by Vladimir Savchuk.

Pastor Vlad is the lead pastor of Hungry Generation Church, an author of “Break Free” and “Single, Ready to Mingle” and a founder of free online school “Vlad’s School.” To download free e-books, sermon series, small group study guides go to vladimirsavchuk.com