The "Bowl of Stew"

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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. (Gen 25:29-34)

Esau will probably be most remembered as the guy who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Unfortunate for him since he actually had so much going for him: - Firstborn son of Issac, it was his right to inherit the Abrahamic covenant that through him, the nations of the earth will be blessed.

He blew his chance, gave up on the destiny that God had promised him in a moment of folly. Unfortunately for him, there was no turning back, in spite of his tears and regrets. Nothing could reverse his decision to trade his eternal destiny and blessings to fulfill an immediate desire, to meet an immediate need.

Sad. But before we go too hard on Esau for being such a "fool", chances are that some of us are also prone to make the same mistake.

Take my own life as an example. I have a God-provided career, privilege to support my wonderful wife through her full time service to God's work, 2 beautiful kids, good health for everyone in my family (including mum, bro, aunts, in-laws) and good relationships with them.

I have the privilege of serving him in a good church, with good leaders watching over me. I believe my destiny and inheritance in the Lord is a glorious one, for me, my family, my kids, provided I remain faithful in serving God and obeying Him.

But yet I cannot deny that often the discontent is very real in my life, especially when I grow tired, weary and start to lose focus on what is eternal. These are times when I start to manifest the "darker" and "worldlier" side of me. I begin to focus on my problems, my difficulties, my dissatisfactions in life. I grumble about the "sacrifices" I need to make to follow Christ and to serve Him. Instead of being thankful for the blessings of God, I start counting my costs in some of the "mundane" and "trivial" areas:

(1) Not being able to devote all my attention and time to my career to climb higher than where I am now - ie losing out in climbing the corporate ladder, in $$.

(2) Having to shoulder the financial burden for the family so that my wife can serve God full-time, thereby having to make some sacrifices in terms of my schedule, convenience and of course $$. With that, probably giving up on the lifestyle I secretly wanted, forgoing the dream car and dream house I wanted, cutting back on the high tech toys I wish I possess.

(3) "Thankless" tasks of having to serve in the ministry, people who don't respond despite the efforts poured in, unanswered prayers, things that don't go according to plan, frustrations that go along with serving in a "fast-changing-baptist-church". Re-living past hurts and disappointments.

(4) Other grouses....related to kids, family, people ...the list goes on.


Cant't deny there are moments when I almost wished I could have chosen my way and live the life I wanted. "Look, I am about to die, What good is the birthright to me?"

If this does not come close to to selling my birthright for a bowl of stew, not sure what does.

The problem for me is that in times like this, I let my dissatisfactions and desire for temporal needs overwhelm and cloud my vision of the important and the eternal. I somehow think that fulfilling my temporal desires will truly make me happy, even at the expense of the eternal. A lie. And yet I get tempted by it again and again.

By the grace of God, since the year of victory, the frequency of that happening and the intensity of negative feelings when they do hit has decreased. And in the year of Sabbath, I intend to minimise it even further, by walking close to Him. Needs work. But I want to "make every effort to enter that rest". And may I never be branded as one who despises my birthright as a child of God. I pray that I will see as Paul did in Ephesians 1:18:

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
(Ephesians 1:18)

I look forward to the day when I am no longer tempted by that deceptively attractive bowl of stew.
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