In Genesis 25:32, Esau imagined that he was about to die. Jacob asked him to exchange his birthright for some bread and lentil stew. It could not have been tasty and filling enough to be worth the price he paid. Talk about your bad bargains!
Christianity is likened to an inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4). Christians are heirs (Gal. 3:29). What a priceless possession salvation is! In fact, the Bible says nothing is more valuable than it (cf. Matt. 16:26). Yet, those who turn away from Christ and return to the world or who serve sin while pretending—on the surface—to serve Christ are saying essentially the same thing. “What good is the birthright to me?”
Some exchange the birthright for godless behavior. Fornicators are singled out as representatives of ungodliness (Heb. 12:16). These are people who are sexually immoral, who step outside of God’s arrangement for sexual fulfillment (cf. Heb. 13:4). This includes those who have sex before marriage, but also takes in the homosexual, the adulterer, and any other who engage in such lawless behavior. All who practice these perversities will be eternally lost (cf. Gal. 5:19-21). Esau lost a lifelong birthright for a single meal (Heb. 12:16). How many have lost an entire lifetime, have drastically changed their lives, and endangered their souls for a “single night”?
Some exchange the birthright for pride. Pride is a fast track to destruction (Prov. 16:18). Esau’s descendants are condemned for their pride. The little prophetic book, Obadiah, is all about how their pompous boasting was to be short-lived. Like Esau and the descendants bearing his name, many today have a pretty high estimation of self. In fact, they trust in self to the point of ignoring their need of God. Self for God? What a bad exchange! Our greatest assets and accomplishments are frankly “rubbish” (Phil. 3:8).
Some exchange the birthright for fear. That is how Esau’s descendants were left in the generations after his death. Moses told Israel they would “pass through the territory of” their “brothers the sons of Esau…and they will be afraid of” them (Deut. 2:4). Israel , of course, descended from Jacob. They had God’s power and blessings (Rom. 9:10ff). Spiritual descendants of Esau today leave the security of salvation for the fear and uncertainty of the world. How hopeless it is to face the prospect of eternity unfaithful to Christ. What a raw deal!
Are you protecting your birthright? A lot of sacrifice was made to hand it down to you (cf. 1 Tim. 2:6). Don’t give it away for anything!