We must give honor to those things which God honors.
The world misplaces their honor and will place a higher value on saving a tree than on saving the life of an unborn child. Misplaced honor will cause the world to make sacrifices to have the latest car, but they won't make the same sacrifices to invest their time in and resources into the lives of their children.
We must learn where God places His honor and place our honor there as well.
An Honorable Trade?
Esau and Jacob were the twins of Isaac, but because Esau was the firstborn, he was the one who received the birthright. Esau loved to hunt while Jacob always stayed close to home. Returning from an unsuccessful hunting trip, Esau was famished and weak from not having found anything to kill to eat.
When he returned home, he found Jacob who had just finished preparing a soup to eat. Esau begged him for his soup and Jacob saw the opportunity to get something he had always wanted—the blessing of the birthright! "I will give you what I have if you will give me what you have—the birthright." Jacob bargained.
Esau reasoned, "If I die form hunger, the birthright won't do me any good, so I will trade you—my birthright for your soup!"
The Bible records what God said about these twins, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (or despised)."
Looking into this account with Esau and Jacob, we can see why God lightly esteemed Esau. He didn't honor what God honored, but we can also see why God loved Jacob: he would do whatever it took to possess what God honored.
Esau exchanged his birthright for natural things, and if we are not careful, we as believers, can do the same thing—giving our affections, our time and our honor to the temporal things of this life and not placing proper value on spiritual things.
The things of God are of far greater worth than any temporal thing, and we must be sure that we cultivate those things instead of living our lives for the temporal things of this world.
When Isaac, as an aged man, was to lay his hands on his eldest son and bestow a blessing upon him, Jacob deceived him (dressing as Esau) and received the blessing instead. Jacob once again showed how he valued spiritual things, although he was dishonest in how he acquired it. Esau was upset when he found out that Jacob had received the blessing that was intended for him.
Don't Wait Too Long
The Bible even tells us that he sought for it with strong tears. We see Esau a man who waited too late in life to place a value on the things God honored. Even though he wept and begged, he couldn't regain what he had lost through lack of honor. If he would have honored what was his as the eldest, he would have received greater blessings, but he didn't honor what God honored.
In Luke 19:41-44 we read, "Jesus wept over the whole city because they missed the time of their visitation from God."
How many times have we waited too late to really honor and value what we had? Moments with our families that we didn't treat as precious, loved ones that we didn't honor as we should have, God's dealing in our lives that we ignored—but thank God, He is merciful and it's not too late!
Let's commit as never before, to honor God and His holy Word in our lives. Let's put him first.
God's blessings are too rich to be ignored or neglected, so let's purpose to hold them and watch Him restore that which was lost.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Nancy Dufresne has been in the ministry for 30 years. She traveled extensively in the United States and abroad with her husband, Dr. Ed Dufresne, until he went to home to be with the Lord. She pastors World Harvest Church in Murrieta, California, and conducts road meetings throughout the world.
