Discover His heart: His Word encourages us to live a righteous life to avoid the many consequences of sin
Tucked in between Christmas and Easter on the holiday calendar is Valentine’s Day, a day spent enjoying and celebrating those we love. More sugary chocolate treats will be given as gifts and consumed than any other day of the year outside of Halloween. As the saying goes, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we diet!”
Sugar! Who doesn’t like sugar! Even now I look across the room to my kitchen and spy my glass sugar canister with the sun hitting it just right and each sweet grain sparkling in its rays. I’ve known a few individuals in my life who care little about sweets and can pass up a sugary dessert without batting an eye. I’m not sure what planet they’re from, but I’m certain it’s a miserable place. While sugar seems rather benign in nature, it does hold an addictive property to where our appetites require more and more in order to be satisfied. In addition to obvious weight gain over time, we now have learned that when sugar consumption is left unchecked, serious health issues can arise. But then, as we discover today in our reading, uncontrolled appetites can lead to all sorts of problems in our lives.
@ Genesis 25
“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!’…‘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?’” (29-32) I sincerely doubt that Esau was truly starving to death, but the excuses we make are quite creative when we yearn to satisfy our appetites. “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.” Those were expensive lentils, to say the least.
Jacob, a heel-gripping deceiver during those early years, made a great deal for himself because of Esau’s uncontrollable appetite. He would now possess the wealth and power of a first-born son. Appetites come in a variety of passions, and any appetite that causes us to make a poor trade and sacrifice something of value should certainly be considered out-of-control. Many have sacrificed their honor and reputation to satisfy their lust for power or have lost the respect of family and friends to satisfy their sexual appetites because they traded their core values for temporary pleasure.
Esau lost his future, his riches and his promise. Hebrews 12:16-17 reminds us, “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.” Fortunately, God forgives our sins, but it is at the very least difficult and often impossible to restore the honor, reputation and respect we once enjoyed when we dishonor them as Esau did.
This disheartening story of Esau is not one of the feel-good uplifting stories of the Bible, but I would imagine that God was intentional with its inclusion. If we heed its message, it will spare us the pain and loss that comes with making a poor trade in order to satisfy a fleeting moment of power or pleasure. And in that sense, the story of Esau is priceless.
Moving Forward: I love the Lord for showing me the disciplines of His word. I choose today to protect those things of value, praying never to trade the eternal for the temporary in my life.
Tomorrow @ Judges 7-11
Phyllis Benigas 