A Bowl of Lentil Soup
One would hardly believe it. Why would someone want to trade in their own birthright for a bowl of red bean soup? How could someone be that dumb? Well, Esau was that foolish! And, well - he was hungry. His birthright meant little to him compared to his hungry stomach, and so he went ahead and sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of red lentil soup.
But what exactly was a birthright? The birthright was the spiritual right of the first-born son. This right was very important and valuable in Esau's society. It represented the spiritual leadership of the family. To those who wanted God and God's blessing on their life, it was therefore very important. But did Esau value his birthright? Yes, he valued it: at at exactly the price of one bowl of red bean soup.
The Bible says that Esau was a fornicator. He was not just a fornicator physically. He was also a spiritual fornicator as well. Like a man who does not remain faithful to his wife, Esau was not faithful to God. He was more interested in a bowl of lentil soup than he was about his eternal soul!
Now does that describe you? Are you caught up in the things of this world and are not worried very much, if at all, about your eternal soul? If so, then you are not that different from Esau. God is not real to you, and God is not all that important to you either. You are effectively living like an pig or other animal - living for food, sex, pleasure, whatever your appetite of the moment desires. In a real sense, your stomach, your physical appetites - that is your God. The God of the Universe does not control your life - your stomach does.
The problem with living for your stomach is that you have sin that makes the God very upset with you. The Bible says that, "God is angry with the wicked every day". God said in the Bible that, "Esau have I hated". One day you will die. You will die, and then stand before Almighty God to answer for your wicked sins. God must punish sin. God will punish your sin. That is why you will be cast into Hell - to burn there forever as punishment for you sin. Is that what you want? Well, that is what you will get as things stand right now.
God does not want you to go to Hell. God wants you to go to Heaven. Nevertheless, God must still punish your sin, because God is just. He must punish your sins and you have lots of sins written down in God's record books. Your good works will not save you. That is why God sent Jesus to die on a cross to pay for your sin. If you will trust Jesus, Jesus' blood will cover your sins and you will be forgiven. If you decide that your sin is more important than your eternal soul, then you will put off trusting Jesus and so will burn forever in Hell some day.
Esau has been burning in Hell for thousands of years now. For him, Eternity has barely started. Do not follow Esau's example. Do not be so foolish and chose sin rather than salvation. Trust Jesus today. Then get into a good Fundamentalist Baptist church and live for Jesus. Put Jesus and the Bible first. And may God bless you as you do it.
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