Living Insights For Excellence

Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

The first time I read this text, I wondered how he, Esau, despised his birthright.

Yeah, maybe he should have been patient, and all, or he should have regarded it more important than food, or he shouldn't have spoken as though it was of little worth, but it doesn't mean he despised it, does it?

I mean we all make mistakes, right?

But then I had to study and not just read.

From previous verses and chapters, we'd see that Esau always had a tendency for the wild. The Bible's description of him, gave him off as someone who was impatient and liked living in the present, the immediate, someone who loved life.

Jacob on the other hand had always been more slow paced, steady, more calculating and cautious. Probably observant. In fact the Bible says his name means 'cunning'.

So back to Esau and how he despised his birthright.

When you don't value something, you'd sell it off at the slightest opportunity, to the first buyer.

Esau had just returned from a hunt. He was famished. He was yet to go into the house, where a lot of servants would be willing to attend to his needs, he was impatient and all he could see was the red pottage his brother cooked.

Two things were against him, no three things; appetite, impatience and a lack of common sense.

Appetite
With the way he spoke to Jacob, describing the pottage, it showed that much more than hunger, the lust of the appetite was leading. He was more interested in how delicious the food looked, and that was all he saw. This didn't help the next pull.

Impatience
As I said, he could have gone in and ordered food, but he couldn't delay gratification. It had to be now. His words were so pitiful, he insinuated that he was close to death, and would die if he didn't eat right then. We know that wouldn't have happened, but when appetite
and impatience mix, the outcome is never good. But the third wrong is most painful.

Lack Of Common Sense
He spoke to his brother about food, and the next thing he was bargaining for his birthright? Common sense should have rung a bell in his head telling him that something was not right.
What could be so important about a birthright that this guy has to ask for it in return for food?
He should have asked.

But he was already blinded by how good the food looked, and he had already told himself that if he didn't eat right then, he'd die, so his brain could not figure out that something was wrong.

To him, the birthright had no value worth resisting temptation for, worth delaying gratification for, and worth using common sense for.
It had no value to him; he said so himself, and that's how he despised his birthright.

Many times we give excuse of how what we did is not what people think it meant, but the truth is that actions speak louder than words. Always.

Esau later regretted, but it was late.

We make so many mistakes like Esau, we lust after things of little value, we are impatient for gains, and we refuse to apply wisdom in dealings, and so before we know it, we have sold gold for brass.

Pitiful.

An excellent life is constantly doing away with subtle chains like lust. An excellent life always keeps the future in sight, delaying present, transient pleasures for future, solid joys. An excellent life applies wisdom in all dealings.

In summary, here's what one writer, Ellen White, wrote in her book, Patriarchs and Prophets, about this:

And for a dish of red pottage he parted with his birthright, and confirmed the transaction by an oath. A short time at most would have secured him food in his father’s tents, but to satisfy the desire of the moment he carelessly bartered the glorious heritage that God Himself had promised to his fathers. His whole interest was in the present. He was ready to sacrifice the heavenly to the earthly, to exchange a future good for a momentary indulgence. {PP 179}