Short-Sighted

Today I read the first part of the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. Basically, Jacob's inside cooking stew while Esau is out hunting. Esau comes in, and he's really hungry. Jacob, being a great brother, says, "Ok, I'll give you some food if you give me your birthright." Esau's response is "'I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?'" (Genesis 25:32). So, they do the swap. Essentially, since Esau was Isaac's firstborn, he's giving up the whole great-nation-out-of-your-descendants thing that God promised Abraham (aka Jacob and Esau's grandpa). He gives up his place in a rather historic lineage for some stew. He gives up something eternal for something fleeting. In his commentary on Genesis, John Calvin wrote of Esau, "hence it happens, that he barters a spiritual for an earthly and fading good."

This got me to thinking. How many times am I like Esau? How often am I concerned with the present, with what I think are my immediate needs, instead of thinking about what would be best in the long-term? How often do I try and take care of myself, meet my own needs in the now instead of trusting and relying on God and His timing. Surely many times each week I declare that I'm about to die if I don't get something (ok, maybe I don't say I'm going to die, but I probably act like it's that big of a deal). And whenever I try and take matters into my own hands, I'm essentially saying to God that my immediate gratification is greater than whatever His plan for my life is, even if it is something much better than what I'm getting myself in the moment. How often do I let trivial, earthly things overshadow the real needs of my heart? I get so caught up in wanting a boyfriend, or perfect students, or more down time, or a nap that I lose sight of what I really need--a Savior, Grace, dealing with my sin, time with the Lord. I run around trying to get some food to meet my physical needs and let my spiritual needs fall by the wayside. I take myself out of God's plan for my life in favor of doing it on my own. I willingly pass over my birthright as an adopted daughter of Christ for stew.