DON’T BE LIKE ESAU
“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom. Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”-Gen 25:29-34
When Esau returned and was hungry, nothing mattered to him but a full stomach. Life can put us in place where nothing matters except survival. We may do things that may help us survive for a while but will not support the purpose God have for us. Because of hunger he made it look as if he will never eat again. He made his circumstance dictate his actions. He substituted his birth right with food. Just like Esau, there are a lot of things we are using to substitute our core purpose in life. It might not necessarily be our fault but that bad choice can be a silent snare derailing our purpose. We often see our purpose to be so trivial. We often feel our lives don’t matter that much so it doesn’t matter how well we live. But this is an error. God created us in His own image and so each individual is an explicit copy of God.
Until we appreciate our uniqueness we may never value what is inside of us. Until we value what we have, we may not see the need to be extraordinary. Never look down on yourself. Never feel inferior. I often wonder how the life of Esau would have been if that spiritual barter didn’t take place. Don’t sacrifice your purpose because of education, work, family, money etc. Even though all these things are needed in our pursuit of purpose, it should never be an obstruction. Don’t be too busy doing other things which is not adding up to your divine assignment.
“..and [see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.”- Heb 12:16-17(AMP)
Tears couldn’t restore the glory lost during Esau’s carelessness. The writer of Hebrews is reminding us that despising our life and making bad choices can have grave effect on our existence. Life without purpose is a life heading toward regret. Life will leave you behind if you don’t act now. Stop whatever is stopping you from being great.
Source: excerpt from book : Purpose: stepping into your divine assignment (page 10)
