Our Birthright--some thoughts

I am in my second year of Bible Study Fellowship. We studied Acts last year and are going through Genesis this year. Digging into God's Holy Word feeds my soul like nothing else is able. I am so grateful for the many who study the Bible and put together the lessons we go through each week.

As much as I love learning more about the Bible, I still spend more hours a week on Facebook, reading blogs, books, or magazines, Pinterest, etc. than opening my Bible.

The past few weeks have included the stories of Isaac and Rebekah and their twin sons Jacob and Esau--beginning with Genesis 25:19. The story of the birthright being given to Jacob, rather than firstborn Esau, is a tangled web of lies, trickery and deceit. All four of them chose to move along with their own plans rather than allow God to carry out his plan--and they sure paid the price later!

While still pregnant, the Lord told Rebekah that the birthright would go to Jacob, the younger of the twins, rather than to Esau, which was the traditional practice of giving it to the firstborn. Esau showed his indifference to God and the family birthright when he sold the birthright to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of lentil soup. Genesis 25:34 says "Esau despised his birthright."  He deliberately rejected God and His promises for something as temporary as a bowl of soup.

What is my birthright? 
Do I despise it, along with God's promises?  
Am I like Esau? 

Some thoughts from my BSF notes:
We do have a spiritual birthright and a choice about what to do with God's generous gifts. 
Contemplate some of the things you may have "inherited"...

• knowledge of the way to God
• a Christian home
• opportunity to worship and hear Christian teaching
• knowledge of God Himself
• the written Word of God

As believers, many of us (in the U.S.) have as our "birthright" an open Bible, freedom to read it, and no political persecution for believing it, yet we still choose not to make time to receive and apply every word of this precious revelation of God's character, God's will, and God's enabling. Instead, we choose to "sell our birthright" by cluttering up the hours of our days with our own brand of chosen emptiness.

I am going to spend some time thanking God for my inheritance.  An inheritance that I take for granted and often dismiss. Yes, I am like Esau.  I fill my belly with lentil soup, rather than the richness God has gifted me with. I am grateful that His mercies are new every morning, and that TODAY I have a chance to respond correctly.