Expensive Soup

Early on in marriage my wife would send me to the store. Returning home with a triumphant expression she would ask me if I got everything on the list. My reply would go something like this:"Not only did I get everything on the list, I saw this 12 pack of Coke on sale! Aren't you proud of me?!?"She would look skeptically at the receipt. Then she would ask me why I thought that was on sale and even a remotely good price. Puzzled, I would tell her about the HUGE display at the front of the isle with the bright neon sign with the special price listed.She would shake her head. "That is NOT a good price."It's funny how sometimes in the moment, something can seem like a good deal. Esau could probably sympathize.

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”) “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.” “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?” But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.Genesis 25:29-34

Esau was hungry. Real hungry. So hungry, in fact, that he was willing to give up his inheritance as the older brother.Really, Esau? That's some EXPENSIVE SOUP.Esau isn't alone in this. We are all guilty at times of trading things that are valuable for things that are instant and insignificant. Don't do it. Here are 4 lessons to learn from Esau:1. Control your appetite, or it will control you.2. Don't make big decisions at a point of fatigue or weariness.3. Live with vision. Your future is worth the right decisions.4. Value what is valuable.