Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born (Genesis 25:34 – Contemporary English Version).
The story of Esau despising his first-born birthright is an excellent example to us of how yielding to the flesh can cost us the blessings of God.
Esau was born struggling. Before he and his brother were born, they were wrestling in the womb. When He was born, his twin brother Jacob had grasped his heel. Jacob means deceiver, schemer. These brothers were always disagreeing and fighting. Their personalities were opposite extremes. Jacob was a shepherd and stayed close to home. Esau was a hunter and loved the open field.
Esau came in from hunting one day and was overcome with hungry. He asked Jacob for a bowl of the soup he had made. The aroma had filled the house. Jacob was only willing to give Esau the soup if he would trade his firstborn birthright to him. Esau so little regarded his birthright that he gave it away for a simple bowl of soup!
The firstborn birthright meant that when his father died, he received 2/3 of the inheritance. The 1/3 left was divided among all of the rest of the siblings! This birthright was both an honor and a great responsibility! And Esau gave it away for next to nothing. He despised it.
As believers, we have a great heritage. We are heirs of God, and equal heirs with Jesus! We have inherited every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We have God’s delegated authority, His favor, His nature. The Greater One lives within us. The gifts of the Spirit are available to us. Healing belongs to us. The Father has promised to prosper us as we honor Him. We have such a rich heritage!
Esau valued his physical appetites over the spiritual blessings that God had for him. He lost the blessing! Likewise, if we choose the appetites of the flesh over the things God has provided for us, we could lose the blessing of God. It’s just like Esau giving away his inheritance!
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there (Galatians 5:19-24 – NLT).
It’s just not worth yielding to the flesh to stand losing all that Jesus made available to us. When you mess up and yield to the desires of the flesh, repent! Ask Jesus to cleanse you from it, and then walk away. Expect Jesus to give you the ability to say no to the desires of the flesh when they rise up. We must resist them, and repent when we yield to them. Walking purposely in sin will rob us of God’s best!
Don’t allow Satan to dangle the carrot of the flesh in any area before your eyes! Just like the forbidden fruit, it may look good and taste good to your flesh, but it’s not worth the end result! Let’s respect our God given inheritance and walk in the spirit today!