Hebrews 12:14-21: a reflection

14Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many be defiled by it, 16lest there be any sexually immoral person or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears. 18For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm, 19the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them, 20for they could not stand that which was commanded, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned”. 21So fearful was the appearance that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

In urging his readers to holiness, the writer of Hebrews holds up a warning example: Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. Esau, hungry after a day's hunting, traded his birthright, his lasting inheritance as the firstborn, for one bowl of stew, for the satisfaction of an immediate appetite. And later, the writer notes, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; he could not undo what he had done, though he sought it with tears.

Notice what Esau did, and could not undo. In a moment of appetite, he traded something lasting and precious for something immediate and passing; he sold his birthright for a meal. The stew was gone in an hour; the birthright was gone forever. He let a momentary craving cost him a lasting inheritance, and afterward, for all his regret, he could not get it back. The trade of the lasting for the immediate proved irreversible.

That is a sober warning for us. We face, in many forms, the same temptation Esau faced: to sacrifice something lasting and precious for the satisfaction of a moment, to trade our future, our integrity, our deepest good, even our eternal inheritance, for an immediate craving. And some such trades cannot be undone. Do not be like Esau, selling what is lasting for what is immediate. When a momentary appetite tempts you to sacrifice something of lasting worth, remember his bargain and his tears. Weigh the passing satisfaction against the lasting loss, and do not trade your true and lasting inheritance for the stew of a moment. What is eternal is worth far more than any immediate craving; do not sell it for a single meal.

Lord, the writer of Hebrews warns me with Esau, who sold his birthright, his lasting inheritance, for a single meal, for the satisfaction of a moment, and afterward could not undo it though he sought it with tears. Sober me with his example. I face, in many forms, the same temptation: to sacrifice something lasting and precious for the satisfaction of a moment, to trade my future, my integrity, my deepest good, even my eternal inheritance, for an immediate craving. And some such trades cannot be undone. Keep me from being like Esau, selling what is lasting for what is immediate. When a momentary appetite tempts me to sacrifice something of lasting worth, help me remember his bargain and his tears. Help me weigh the passing satisfaction against the lasting loss, and not trade my true inheritance for the stew of a moment. What is eternal is worth far more than any craving; keep me from selling it cheaply.