Wednesday, February 24, 2016
VIDEO
One day
when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness
exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom,
which means “red.”) “All
right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.” “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said
Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?” But Jacob said, “First you must swear
that your birthright is mine.” So Esau
swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother,
Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread
and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then
got up and left. He showed contempt for
his rights as the firstborn.
Genesis 25:29-34(NLT)
Esau
didn't have a care in the world, as long as God didn't call for an
accounting. Four teenage boys decided to
skip school. There was this math test,
you see, so they went swimming. But
around noon they got to worrying, so they decided to head for the
schoolhouse. When they arrived they
walked in together and told the teacher that they were sorry they were late and
missed their test, but they'd had a flat.
She accepted their explanation and told them they could take a
make-up. She placed them separately in
the four corners of the room and said: Your
test only has one question; which tire was flat? Many people, like Esau, imagine that there
will never be a final exam...the one with the single question, what
did you do with Jesus?
At
this point in his life Jacob was not a great example, but he at least valued
the birthright. Esau's priority was
filling his stomach, as opposed to honoring the God who had a prior claim on
his life. He came in from the field
"famished" (25:29).
Esau
gave in, caved in! What good is all this
religious stuff, when I'm starved?
Is that not a type of today’s culture of pleasure-seeking? Dulled by the effects of booze, drugs and the
unending quest for higher highs and ultimate nights out, so many people today who,
like Esau, were born into the right family, and raised with the birthright of worshiping
Almighty God, have tuned-out on God, tanked-up on stuff, and totaled-out their
spiritual birthright.
And
they don't even care! Note how Esau
ate-up, drank-up, and moved-out. That
about sums up the importance he placed on the spiritual side of life. I doubt he even stopped to ask a blessing on
that pot of stew. It isn't much wonder
that God placed the trust of spiritual heritage for the family in Jacob’s hands. His motives needed a huge overhaul, but at
least HE was interested in God.
Have
you ever noticed how earlier choices have eventual (and eternal)
consequences? Esau had demonstrated no
aptitude or appetite for spiritual things.
Leadership in the development of the covenant God had established with
Abraham meant that the head of God's chosen people could not be someone who
didn't care about spiritual things.
Esau, given a choice, always opted for present gratification
over precious
glory. He wanted it his way,
and he wanted it now!
Esau
later (chapter 27) began to experience the regret and result of loss. With the birthright gone, the rightful place
of the eldest became Jacob's possession.
Christians give up so much when they do not live like they are
inheriting what Jesus said would be theirs.
So often you see people entering middle-life, realizing that the
foolishness of precious time they wasted earlier has stolen God's best right
out of their hand.
It
isn't any wonder we have "mid-life crisis". Would it not create a panic to suddenly
realize that there was a wonderful plan God had for you, and you have despised
it like Esau? Shakespeare's Marc Antony
followed his slavish impulses time and again back to Egypt and Cleopatra. And while his attention was on his base
instincts, Octavius stole an empire and its glory. How many of us lose the blessing because we
would foolishly choose the things of this world?
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit
the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!
