Heb. 12:16

16 Lest [me] there be any [tis] fornicator [pornos], or [e] profane person [bebelos], as [hos] Esau [Esau], who [hos] for [anti] one [mia] morsel of meat [brosis] sold [apodidomi] his [autos] birthright [prototokia]. KJV-Interlinear

16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. NASB

Esau was a Godless person. Esau grew up with his brother Jacob, and had every opportunity to hear, and learn, and believe, and accept the scriptures just as Jacob did.

But despite all of the history of his family and of his ancestors, Esau rejected both God and doctrine.

One day Esau came home from a hard day s work and he was too tired to fix himself something to eat. Jacob was there and offered to fix him a meal in exchange for his birthright.

Jacob valued the birthright and Esau did not. Esau presumed that his birthright was going to be his automatically and that he would have to do nothing to protect it, or even receive it. Esau was under no obligation to make this trade.

When Isaac gave the birthright to Jacob, Esau tried to recover all that could easily have been his, but his halfhearted tears were not enough to recover what he had lost. Even in his tears he was not sincere.

A birthright is a right of possession usually based on birth. When a person is born into this world they are given the opportunity for securing a birthright. That birthright is not automatic. When a person believes in Christ they experience the second birth. And this second birth is a spiritual birth which gives them yet another opportunity for an eternal birthright. This second opportunity is not automatic either, but requires advancement to spiritual maturity in conformity with the mandates issued by God.

Just as with Esau, when a person disregards their birthright throughout their life, then all of the tears in the world at the end of that life, will not regain for them that which they lost because of their indifference or arrogance during a life.

We have covered this subject several times throughout our Bible study. We should know by now that our birthright in heaven is one of the phenomenal value. It would be like an extremely poor person inheriting the vast estate of a multi, multi, multi-trillionaire. The wise person of course would look at this kind of inheritance and value it highly.

The fool would look at this kind of inheritance, presuming that it was his already, without giving it a second thought, and would trade it away for a single meal. And we should all know that the single typical really good dinner, when you dine out, isn t worth much more than $20.00 to $30.00. Who in the right mind would trade a multi-trillion dollar inheritance for a single meal?

But then the fool would presume that they are not bound by their agreement, and that they re getting whatever they want in life based on their own terms. They even try to cheat their way through life.

This is what Esau did. He made an agreement that he had no intention of keeping. He was going to take advantage of Jacob by taking the meal and keeping his birthright, giving Jacob nothing.

And even though Jacob traded for the birthright fairly and stooped to deception in order keep the birthright, Jacob did so because he believed in the promises of God. Jacob valued that which God had promised.

Unfortunately this is not what most people in the world are doing.

They re following the pattern which Esau lived by. Like Esau, most people (if not all people) have access to the knowledge taught by the Bible. And like Esau, most people disregard the truth pertaining to their own future as taught by the Bible. They are just too busy to be bothered by all of this Bible stuff. Nothing wrong with being busy, but the error of life comes when God and spiritual growth are excluded from ones life.

Anyone can look around them and see that life ends for each and every person born into this world. We all know, or should I say, most people presume there is some kind of life on the other side of death. But, like Esau, they ignore the principles and mandates taught by the Bible, which help us grow up spiritually and help us to secure the better aspects of that future life.

So at the end of life when the reality of truth is discovered, there will be lots of tears for those who have rejected Christ entirely. Their destiny is the Lake of Fire. And as far as believers go, believers who have ignored their spiritual life throughout their life, then their reaction will be great embarrassment at the discovery of just how stupid they really were in this life.

If you look at the truth of life and understand that living in this world is not all that there is, that the vast majority of your existence will occur after this life, in eternity, then the smart person will prepare himself for that greater future portion of his life rather than emphasizing this smaller insignificant portion of his life.

Your spiritual life is by far the most valuable possession you will ever have. It s value is worth far, far more than anything you could ever accumulate if you lived a thousand lifetimes, even if you were tremendously lucky in every one of those lifetimes.

Your entire eternal future depends entirely on your attitude toward Christ, toward God, and toward Bible doctrine. The vast majority of the world is going to lose out in life as well as in eternity. A very small number of people will be successful in their spiritual life and therefore will secure a phenomenal birthright for all of eternity, because they see the value of a daily Bible study resulting in their advancement to spiritual maturity.

And of course you can choose which group you want to be a part of.

Now is the time to post a prayer.