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Opportunity and Appetite

Words of Faith Final

Opportunity and Appetite
Words of Faith 5-6-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL    
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 25
    [27] The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. [28] Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
    [29] Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. [30] He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)
    [31] Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."
    [32] "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"
    [33] But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
    [34] 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.

        I must confess that I have always thought that Esau got a lousy deal. It has nothing to do with the fact that I am the more swarthy of two brothers. Well, okay, it probably has something to do with that.  
        Esau was a simple fellow. He loved the out of doors. He was a hunter and fisherman. He was Isaac's favorite son because Esau would bring in wild game. In modern terms, Esau might have been the "jock" of the family. He was strong and tough. He could live off of the land. He was not headed for an Ivy League school, but this was of little concern to Isaac. (I am reminded of the character Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast"!)
        Jacob, on the other hand, was a smooth and tender sort of fellow. He was what we might call a "Mama's boy." Jacob was "quiet". He was bright and always thinking. He "stayed near the tents". Hunting was the last thing on his mind. He liked his food prepared for him. In modern terms, we might even think of him as a bit "nerdy."  
        There is no evidence that Jacob actually plotted to trick Esau out of his birthright. It appears that Jacob simply seized an opportunity when it presented itself. When Esau came in one day from the open country and was famished, he wanted some of the stew Jacob was cooking. Knowing his brother, Jacob saw the possibility. He suggested that the lentil stew could be purchased for the price of Esau's birthright. Esau gave little thought beyond his momentary hunger, and the deal was done. Both sides of the bargain reflect something of the sinful nature.
         The sin of Jacob? There was no trickery here. It was an honest deal. The deal was "fair and square" because it was struck fairly. But it was still a sin of opportunism. The exchange was not balanced. We might say it lacked scruples.  
        Jacob's sin was taking advantage of someone in a tough situation. It was the sin of putting oneself ahead of another and driving a fundamentally unfair and unbalanced bargain. There was no Law yet, but Jacob certainly did not "do unto others as he would have others do unto him".  
         The sin of Esau? It was the sin of putting his appetites ahead of his destiny. The writer of Hebrews calls Esau "godless" in selling his inheritance for a single meal (12:16). There was undoubtedly no fruit of the Spirit such as patience or self-control. There was no "delay of gratification." Esau could not look any further down the road than the stew he hungered for.
        Both of these sins are rampant today. In fact, these sins drive many business deals! Like Jacob, many do not trick or cheat, but they take advantage of a weakness when they see it. Business life can be opportunistic, "cutthroat," or unscrupulous.  
       On the other hand, many people have never learned to delay gratification. They want what they want when they want it. Much of our economy is driven by the fact that people cannot wait. Because of this, people go into more and more debt. It is easier than ever these days to sell our future for something as fleeting as a bowl of soup.
         Do you have the sin of Jacob? The sin of taking advantage? The sin of seeing the opening and going for it without regard for the other? Or perhaps you have the sin of Esau? The sin of surrendering to an appetite without regard for the future?  
        In Christ, God has broken the power of sin and death. We do not have to be like Jacob or Esau. The Apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Christians in Rome:
         "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (Romans 6:11-14).
        
         Lord God, I give thanks for Your grace. I count myself dead to sin but alive to You in Christ Jesus! Thank You for breaking the power of sin. Sin shall not be my master! I give thanks that I am under grace. In Jesus' name.
 
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.