Thought Box...
"Have you ever traded something of great value,
for something of lesser value just to satisfy your NOW?"
I was recently confronted with this question by someone of great respect. When the question came I didn't immediately understand until I read the story of a man who gave up something of tremendous worth for something that only offered temporary satisfaction.
Here is the scene: Jacob and Esau are brothers, they are twins to be exact. Esau was born first which means that he is given the inheritance of all that his father owns (birthright). Esau not only has the birthright, but he is also known for his great hunting skills and for being quite manly.
Then we have Jacob. He is the second born (meaning he has no right...to anything) and he likes to make soup.
Aaaaaand ACTION!
Jacob was boiling pottage (lentil stew) one day, when Esau came from the field {hunting} and was faint [with hunger]. And Esau said to Jacob, I beg of you, let me have some of that red lentil stew to eat, for I am faint and famished! That is why his name was called Edom [red]. Jacob answered, Then sell me your birthright (the rights of the first born). Esau said, See here, I am at the point of death; what good can this birthright do to me? Jacob said, Swear to me today [that you are selling it to me]; and he swore to [Jacob] and sold him his birthright. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils, and he ate and drank and rose up and went on his way. Thus Esau scorned {rejected} his birthright as beneath his notice.
Ok...so let me get this streight. This dude, Esau, gave up his inheritance, his legacy, his share of life for a bowl of soup?! I was amazed when I read this and then, I began to think...
How many of us have done the same?
How many of us have ignored our time with our children to watch a TV show that we "just can't miss"? How many of us have traded the real and true and satisfying love of our spouses for the temporary high of pornographic images? How many of us have traded in our integrity for lies and deciet just to grow in the corporate ladder of success? How many of us have traded our dreams for the job that is giving us money NOW?
If there is something that I have learned and learned well, it's that
the things that cry out "NOW!" will always cry out "MORE!".
We become so entangled in our "NOW!" and "MORE!" that it becomes impossible to recuperate what we traded in. What then with our future?
Make a choice today to choose your dreams over the temporary things! Remind yourself daily of what you are fighting for by writing down your dreams and placing in somewhere you will see it when you are tempted to make an unwise trade.We don't realize what we are giving up until we reach the end of the road. So I challenge you today to be aware of your "NOW!". Hold on to your birthright...because if and when you do I promise that you will inherit a great deal more than what you could ever think, ask, or imagine.
P.S. The story continues on throughout the book to reveal that Jacob's decendents gave birth to the most famous person that has ever existed on the planet...Jesus.
