It’s My Soup & I Want It Now
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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.
Who knew soup could cause so many problems? But that is what an uncontrolled desire can do.
When Esau exclaimed, “I am about to die… What good is the birthright to me?” he was not actually dying. He was hungry. The hunger of his flesh was grumbling so loudly that it felt impossible to say no. But that is the lie of the flesh. It tells us we cannot control it. It says, “You need this now,” when in reality, you do not.
The flesh is short sighted. It thinks only about the present. It focuses on what feels good in the moment, not on what matters for eternity.
“See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.”
Hebrews 12:16–17 (NIV)
You cannot undo what you have already given away. When the flesh leads, it makes decisions based on the desire of the moment rather than the destination you were meant to pursue.
The goal is to look past the burn of desire. Keep your eyes on where God is leading you, even if there is a steaming bowl of soup right in front of you.
Today, write down the destinations you believe God is leading you toward in the coming years. When you keep those in front of you, it becomes much easier to tell your flesh, “Not today.”