Whenever I read the story of Esau and the red stew, I think, “What an idiot!” You remember, in Genesis 25 starting at verse 29, Esau is starving, and Jacob has some stew. Jacob makes Esau swear to give him the all the rights of the first-born son: the inheritance, authority in the family, everything. Esau does it, he swears away his future, and gets some stew. And then, in verse 34, these words of scorn: “So Esau despised his birthright.”
What an idiot, I usually think. How long would it have taken you to find your own food? Are you so short-sighted that you can’t see the value of what’s waiting for you?
Today I didn’t think that. Today I saw another idiot in the same story.
“And Greg was eager for promotion, so he agreed to give up the Sabbath to please his boss. So Greg despised his birthright.”
“And Greg was tempted, because what the others were doing looked like so much fun, and he joined with them in their worldly revelry. So Greg despised his birthright.”
“And Greg was angry, for lo, ahead of him was a driver who was both slow and stupid, and Greg took the Lord’s name in vain. So Greg despised his birthright.”
You see, I have an inheritance even more valuable than Esau’s. I have a room in a palace, and life of eternity in God’s presence, a new perfect body in a place where I’ll never be sad again. I have a birthright that I am too willing to compromise as I try to get along in the broken place where I live for the moment.
Esau and me, two idiots who can’t keep their eyes on the prize, two idiots living expediently in the moment. Good thing for the Savior, because on my own I don’t stand a chance.
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