Consider the Consequences
Once when Jacob was cooking some stew,
Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me
have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
Jacob replied, “First sell me your
birthright.”
“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said, “What
good is the birthright to me?”
But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So
he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and
some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
–
Genesis 25:29-34
Area Boy Scouts gather each year for what is termed an
authentic camping trip. They dress in period costumes and seek to relive life
as it once was. One of the more popular events happens on the trade blankets,
when the kids barter items with each other.
It’s easy to see what each boy’s priorities are. One
might give away something valuable, such as a knife or deer antlers, for a piece
of candy. Another might hold on to those things, waiting for something like a
mounted fish or pottery.
Some can only see what they want in that moment and
they react accordingly. Others are willing to wait for the right thing to come
at the right time. We aren’t any different.
Esau and Jacob were fraternal twins who had battled to
be first even in the womb. They had emerged with Esau as the elder, and his
father’s favorite, and Jacob as the younger, and his mother’s favorite.
Being the firstborn male came with additional
privileges and responsibilities. He would one day inherit a double portion and
be the leader of the family. But birth order didn’t always reveal the best man
for the job.
Esau didn’t value what was given to him by chance of
birth. He was focused on the moment and didn’t consider what he was giving up.
So he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Jacob was certainly not without sin. He, with help
from his mother, later tricked his dying father into giving him the paternal
blessing rather than allowing it to go to Esau. In the end it wouldn’t have
mattered anyway. Selling his birthright wasn’t the only mistake Esau made. He
also married two foreign women, something that simply couldn’t happen to
Abraham’s descendant. Though Esau later married an acceptable woman, it was too
late to undo what he’d already done.
We reap the consequences of our actions. It’s a sad
truth. We can’t undo what we’ve done. We can’t always rebuild what we’ve
destroyed. We can’t change what our actions reveal about our priorities.
The child who trades something valuable for a piece of
candy can’t come back and change his mind when he realizes what he’s done. And
we can’t come back later and undo the consequences of what we’ve done.
A sweet man I know once remarked that if he could
change one thing it would be letting his wife go. She’s fine. She remarried a
wonderful man and is happy. He, on the other hand, now realizes what he
destroyed with his words and actions. He is alone and living with the consequences
of what he can’t undo.
What’s the lesson in all this? Think about the
consequences before you do something that can never be undone. Consider your
words and actions before you destroy a bridge that can never be rebuilt.
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