Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29–34, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “Despised his birthright” for a pot of stew? Hard to believe, right? God extends to us a born-again birthright. “To all who [receive] him, to those who [believe] in his name, he [gives] the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12–13, NIV 1984). Born again. “The right to become children of God.” To those who believe and receive.
Regrettably, there are many who despise this right too. Choosing the things of this world and forfeiting “the right to become children of God.” The proverbial equivalent of a “pot of stew.” “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:16–17, NIV 1984). Going after things that pass away and turning their backs on living forever.
My Advice – Hard to believe, right? Don’t despise your born-again birthright. For “what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:25, NIV 1984). Stew on that for awhile.
The Brew Is A Musing 