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 hunger. 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). Everything we need for life now and into eternity. 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!
But if we yield to the flesh and refuse to walk in the spirit, we stand to lose it all. 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 (Galatians 5:19-21 – NLT).
It’s just not worth yielding to the flesh to stand losing all that Jesus made available to us. 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!
Let’s cry out to God today and keep our spiritual life built up in the Word of God. Let’s stay in constant fellowship with Jesus through maintaining an attitude of prayer. When the yearnings of the flesh rise up, let’s acknowledge them to God, and ask for His ability through the Holy Spirit to help us rise above the temptation. When we slip up and sin, let’s not brood over it and do nothing. Instead, let’s confess our sins immediately and ask God to forgive us and cleanse us. In this way, we can keep the works of the flesh from stealing our spiritual birthrights in Jesus. Our inheritance has been freely given to us by Jesus’ sacrifice. Let’s not give it away!