Press on Toward the Goal

Genesis 25:19-34  is the story of Esau and Jacob.  Twin brothers born to Isaac and Rebekah.   Twin brothers who were quite opposites.  Esau grew up to become a skillfull hunter who loved the outdoors.  Jacob was a quiet man who preferred to stay home.   Esau was oder and as the firstborn son he was entitled to the birthright.  The birthright came with many blessings including a double portion of his fathers inheritance and the blessings promised to Abra­ham and his seed.  It was something to be valued.

"You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Gen 17:1-8)

The bible tells us that one day when Jacob was cooking some stew Esau came in from the open field and was famished.  He asks Jacob for a bowl of the stew. Jacob agrees to give him some, but only if Esau sells him the birthright.  Esau's response was  “Look, I am about to die.  What good is the birthright to me?”  Talk about being dramatic!  Esau is surely not about to die.  Most likely he had been out hunting and I imagine he came back with some wild game.  But it would need to be prepared and cooked.  It would take time.  Jacob's food was ready NOW and Esau was hungry.

Esau was focused on the short term goal of feeding his hunger.  He took his eyes off the eternal.  Instant gratification.  I want what I want and I want it NOW.  He placed more value on his immediate need of hunger than on his God-given blessing.  Esau did not value the things of God and sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Can you relate?  I can.  One way I can relate to Esau is in my struggle to lose weight.  When I am hungry I am focused on what I want right that moment and not what I want my end result to be.  I choose the chips or that brownie.  I want to feed my hunger NOW and my goal of a healthier version of me gets pushed to the back burner.


We live in a world that seeks instant gratification and pleasure.  We pace as the microwave cooks our meal, we fast forward through the commercials, we want the fastest internet speed, the shortest line at the grocery store.  If we are not careful, we can lose sight of what's important (the eternal) and get lost on what we want right now (the earthly.)  We can begin to seek that which brings immediate (temporary) pleasure rather than what brings everlasting pleasure and the blessings of God. 

The bible later calls Esau Godless (Heb 12:16).  I don't want to be like Esau.  My prayer is that I be focused on the things of God. To not lose sight of what is important.

And in the words of the apostle Paul in Phil 3:14 I pray that we press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.


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