Tuesday, February 23, 2016
VIDEO
The Lord answered
Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. But the two
children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about
it. “Why is this happening to me?” she
asked. And the Lord told
her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will
be rivals. One nation will be stronger
than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.” Genesis 25:21b-23(NLT)
Ivan
McGuire died at the age of 35. It wasn't
an automobile accident, or terminal illness.
He wasn't murdered, nor did he commit suicide. McGuire was a sky-diver, who was so excited
about an opportunity to film some other skydivers...that he forgot to put on
his parachute. He was a veteran of over
800 jumps, yet he calmly leaped out of an airplane with his camera gear, but no
silk![2]
Esau
is the man most likely to follow Ivan McGuire in the "Can't Believe I Did
That" department.
The
very first inkling we have of the character of Esau is that he would grow up to
be just like his father Isaac; he was a man of wanting, rather than a man of
worship. He was willing to do just about
whatever was necessary to satisfy his appetite.
Esau was an outdoorsman, a jock, life-of-the-party type. And he lived for the "rush" of
flirting with the edge. He was going to
squeeze every last bit of excitement and gratification out of this life.
How
did he get this way?
He
followed Dad's, and Grandpa's example.
If you remember, Grandfather Abraham had a sneaky, get-what-I-want,
when-I-want-it streak early on. When the
famine hit, Abraham went to Egypt and lied about his wife, calling her his
sister, in order to keep safe. Isaac
pulled the same thing he'd learned from Abraham (see Genesis 26:7).
Esau
knew how to manipulate to get what he wanted.
It's called "situation ethics". You do what you have to do in order to make
things come out okay. The only problem
is that it is shortsighted, because that is the way humans play God.
Esau
didn't hate God; it's just that he was too busy to be bothered with Him. The writer of Hebrews called Esau a profane
person. That doesn't mean had a vulgar
mouth, swearing and using the Lord’s name shamefully. Profane literally means that
he had no holy place.
"Pro" is translated as "in front of"; and
"fane" means temple. Esau had
no life within the temple. He was
unrestrained, outside of the will and submission to God.
There
is a strange echo in that of the Book of Revelation, where it describes the
character of those who will be outside of the New Jerusalem.
Gracie
and Wellie are our four-legged children; they love to eat what we eat. They are very pushy about it all! They'll get right up in your face for a lick
of your ice cream. (They get none from
me!) They love to go for walks with us,
share our food, and snooze over the air-conditioning vent when we relax in
front of the TV.
But
when I take out my Bible and read, or pray, or begin to seek God's face on some
issue, these otherwise intelligent fur babies have no interest. Both will sniff the air and walk off to find
a bug to chase.
Esau
was like that....no time or interest for God.
Esau didn't have a care in the world, as long as God didn't call for an
accounting.
For You Today
If you add it all up, do you
get all excited about the exciting stuff of life, like jumping out of planes
without your parachute? Or do you have a
life solidly rooted in the worship of God?
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