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“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.” (Genesis 25: 29-34)
Is this not the mystery of the human heart? God has prepared an inheritance, homeland, and sonship/daughtership for us, yet we trade it for a bowl of stew—a lesser good. Esau traded his God-given inheritance for a measly ordinary meal. He didn’t value his birthright, lineage, or special blessings ordained for the firstborn son.
I see this cycle stamped all over my life. As a young mom, I traded my inheritance each time I believed the lie that I was not good enough. I traded my inheritance by assuming my marriage would “most likely” fail because I was from a broken home. I traded my inheritance for the wide path, foregoing God’s narrow path because I didn’t believe change was possible.
Sadly, I lived this way far too long. Aching hunger, whether it be a hunger for food, a
drive for more, or a desperate desire for immediate gratification, leaves us with a ravenous appetite for all the wrong things. In Esau’s moment of weakness, Jacob, ready and willing, pounced at the opportunity to con, probe, and grasp Esau’s birthright from under his nose as he whiffed a bowl of stew.
In his desperate, hungry state, Esau didn’t care about his sonship, his inheritance. He despised his birthright (Genesis 25:34). Webster’s dictionary defines despised as “to look down on with disrespect or aversion” or “to regard as negligible, worthless, or distasteful.” Similar to Eve in the Garden, who relinquished the glory, beauty, and peace of the garden (our true homeland) for a taste of forbidden fruit, “So when the women saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…” (Genesis 3:6).
Haven’t we all been in that place? We just don’t care. Even if we know we’re meant for more, the moment's temptation screams our name like a relentless, nagging voice. We give away our inheritance for leftover crumbs.
Thankfully, we’re not doomed. Jesus was tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane and overcame as he persisted to the cross. He overcame because of his deep love for us and desire to show us the way. “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’” (Matthew 4:2-4). According to the Bible In A Year Companion, “All of us have been tempted in a way that preys upon our desperation. In such moments, we become willing to trade in our identity and inheritance as sons and daughters of the Father. This is why we need God's grace.”
Jesus Christ is our sustenance. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In our weakness, he is made strong; hence we can overcome as a champion wins a race.
We don’t have to fall into temptation like Esau, who readily released his God-given inheritance to his brother. We don’t have to vie for immediate gratification or worldly status, caving for a morsel of sustenance. We can run for our homeland with our inheritance intact by God's grace.
Prayer:
Lord, you chose us as your daughters from the beginning of time. Sometimes, the weight of temptation feels too much to bear. Help us remember our God-given identity in you (inheritance) in each moment and receive your healing touch. Amen
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