Jacob and Esau - what a mess they were! Jealousy. Rivalry. Anger and bitterness. This was not a functional family and it seemed to have started in the womb. These two were as different as night and day. Esau was a red-neck, out hunting and fishing and doing manly things. Isaac loved that. Jacob was a momma's boy, staying in the kitchen working on his culinary skills (Genesis 25:27).
One day, Esau the elder came in after a long day in the fields and he smelled a stew that Jacob was cooking. Being both famished and impatient, he had to have some of the stew. “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted," he said.
Jacob was a schemer, and he immediately laid his trap. If Esau wanted some food, he was going to have to give up his birthright - his status as the family's firstborn, the one who would inherit and become the family patriarch.
No way, you might think. Who would give up such a wonderful thing as his birthright for a simple pot of stew? No one would be that foolish, would they? Meet Esau. Without a thought to the consequences, he made the deal, gave up his birthright and wolfed down the stew.
How soon after the stew settled in his stomach do you think he began to regret the deal? He gave away the future for a bowl of stew! What a fool.
In the Bible, most of the decisions we have to make are between what is right and what we want right now. Right, or right now. Which is it going to be. When you are in a moment of temptation, are you going to do what you want to do right now, to give in to your body's desires? Or will you resist the desires of the flesh and do what will bring a blessing in the future? Are we going to just enjoy life today, or invest in the things of the kingdom?
Esau was a fool because he exchanged that which was of real value for that which met his present urges. May we never be such fools!
One day, Esau the elder came in after a long day in the fields and he smelled a stew that Jacob was cooking. Being both famished and impatient, he had to have some of the stew. “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted," he said.
Jacob was a schemer, and he immediately laid his trap. If Esau wanted some food, he was going to have to give up his birthright - his status as the family's firstborn, the one who would inherit and become the family patriarch.
No way, you might think. Who would give up such a wonderful thing as his birthright for a simple pot of stew? No one would be that foolish, would they? Meet Esau. Without a thought to the consequences, he made the deal, gave up his birthright and wolfed down the stew.
How soon after the stew settled in his stomach do you think he began to regret the deal? He gave away the future for a bowl of stew! What a fool.
In the Bible, most of the decisions we have to make are between what is right and what we want right now. Right, or right now. Which is it going to be. When you are in a moment of temptation, are you going to do what you want to do right now, to give in to your body's desires? Or will you resist the desires of the flesh and do what will bring a blessing in the future? Are we going to just enjoy life today, or invest in the things of the kingdom?
Esau was a fool because he exchanged that which was of real value for that which met his present urges. May we never be such fools!
Lord God, too often I have given over the blessings you hold for me to enjoy the flesh's stew right now. Forgive me of that sin, Lord. Empower me with wisdom to resist the stew and choose my birthright as a child of the Living God.
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