Last night at Z-360, we got into small groups and discussed a bible story and then made posters and a freeze frame about our story. My group discussed Genesis 25:27-34 and the story in which Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. I saw this as a story of someone trading something of great importance to fulfill a petty need, a person caring more about the physical, temporal world than about what he had on a deeper level, that is a double portion from his father, etc.
One of the questions that we have been applying to every story we read is “how does this connect to Jesus?” I was reminded of Matthew 23:23 in which Jesus says “Woe to you…For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” Jesus was talking about how the pharisees had neglected their “birthright” to pursue “a bowl of stew”.
The second question we ask is “How does this connect to us?” This story causes me to examine my life and ask myself “are there things in my life that I am pursuing instead of Christ?” Have I sold my birthright for a bowl of stew? I found that it is so easy to get caught up in the trap of spending my freetime in a nonproductive manner.
There is always a battle for control of my thoughts, my actions, my heart. When faced with the choice to either read my bible or watch videos online, too often I choose the later. Do I get up early to spend time with God or do I sleep in? I am an heir with Christ of the kingdom of God. It is my birthright, given to me when I acknowledged Jesus’ demonstration on the cross of His love for me. It seems that too often I trade my birthright for a bowl of stew. Do you?
JA Menter 3
~Loving God and walking in His ways is life, but turning away is death. (Deut 30:15-18)
Good thoughts. Sometimes we forget, though, what the “better thing” is–the birthright–in the momentary pleasures of the stew.