Bad choices… We’ve all made them. I know I have. And today I want to give you some thoughts that I hope will help you in the future not to make bad choices. I want to use an example, a man by the name of Esau. And we read what happened in the book of Genesis, chapter 25. starting with verse 29.
Once when Jacob was cooking stew, that’s Esau, his brother, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, let me eat some of that red stew for I am exhausted. Then Jacob said to him in verse 31, sell me your birthright. Esau said I am about to die, Of what use is a birthright to me?
So I want you to notice here some things that contributed to his bad decision. Number one, he was exhausted. We need to be aware of the fact that when we are tired, physically, or emotionally, we can make bad choices. So be very careful. Always make sure you get the proper rest, and that you allow your mind to rest because you become vulnerable when you’re exhausted.
Secondly, he focused on his appetite. The birthright, which, by the way, had some spiritual implications was not important to him at this point. Because all he could think about was, I need to eat, we need to be very careful not to feed the immediate hunger, whether it’s a physical hunger, like food, or an emotional hunger, like, respect. Those are desires that we have, but we must be careful not to let them control the decision-making process. Be careful of your appetites.
And then thirdly, and I think this is very important, he said, Well, what good is my birthright going to do if I die? Well, the truth is, I know sometimes we think we’re gonna die if we don’t get food, but we’re not. He hadn’t been out for that long. He hadn’t gone that long without food, he wasn’t going to die.
So ultimately, he made the wrong choice. He sold his birthright. And the last phrase of the book of Genesis chapter 25, says this, thus, Esau despised his birthright, his values led him to make a poor decision.
So keep these thoughts in mind, and may God give us the grace to make wise choices in the days ahead.