Genesis 25:30-34

 …and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

 

Esau’s birthright was the privileges of the first-born son to receive the greatest share of the family’s wealth and holdings upon the death of the father.  It wasn’t that other children wouldn’t be cared for, but they wouldn’t be entrusted with the exclusive responsibility and resources to “carry on the family name.”  As the oldest of twins, Esau possessed this certainty of this future blessing, the birthright.  But there were more important things to Esau than future prestige, wells, herds, and wealth—he was hungry, now, and wanted something to eat!  Mind you, he lived in a wealthy home—there plenty of food around.  Perhaps it wasn’t dinner time yet.  Perhaps he preferred Jacob’s cooking over others.  Perhaps he wanted to treat his brother as a servant, and not an brother.  Perhaps Esau was sick of all the “blessing of God” talk of his father around the fire at night.  Perhaps he was confident his could secure his own blessing by his own methods, and not through his family’s religion.  Perhaps…  You can fill in the blank of what kind of family and personality type breeds resentment and self-neglect in a person.  But whatever the reason for it, Esau was so disdainful of his birthright, so indifferent to the great promise that had been given to his grandfather Abraham, and now (presumably) would be inherited by him—that he entered a binding covenant with his little brother that agreed all the wealth, blessing, and affluence of his future would be given to Jacob. He despised his birthright.  He didn’t live his life with a consuming hatred of it; it just didn’t mean very much to him.  It wasn’t worth considering on a day to day basis.  It was barely worth the value of a bowl of stew.

We follow the example of Esau when we value and invest ourselves in meeting our immediate desires instead of living a life of patient obedience as we await our future blessing, which will be formally received when our bodies are resurrected from the dead and we enter into an eternity of blessed, successful living in the kingdom of God.  According to the writer of Hebrews, a Christian is considered “immoral or godless” simply by following the example of Esau, and not living a life that places the eternal perspectives and commands of our faith over and above whatever immediate desires we may have in life. (Heb 12:16).  It’s a pretty expensive meal that costs a man or woman their entire future, isn’t it?

 

Father, deepen our understanding of the tremendous blessings of our salvation, and give us the desire and ability to obey You in all areas of life today instead of our immediate lusts and wants.  Make us a people who treasure the blessings we have in Christ, and freely give them to others.