Godless Like Esau - The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?” But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn. Genesis 25:32-34

AS THE ELDEST SON, Esau was entitled to a double share of the family fortune when Isaac died. But this birthright was about more than money or cattle or land. It was about covenant promise. God had made incredible promises to bless Esau’s grandfather, Abraham, and those promises had been passed down to his son, Isaac. But evidently, receiving those promises and being a part of what God was doing to bless the whole world simply weren’t of any value to Esau. God’s promises were intangible and unreal to him.

By contrast, his brother, Jacob, believed the promise and wanted in on it. His problem was that he didn’t think the promise could be his apart from his own sinful manipulation. But interestingly, when we get to the New Testament, it’s not Jacob’s deception that is condemned, but rather Esau’s godlessness. The writer of Hebrews warned the people of his day, “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal” (Hebrews 12:16).

As fellow heirs with him, all who are in Christ have been given an invaluable birthright. We have an eternal inheritance that is being kept in heaven for us. What we long for, as parents, is for our children to have eyes of faith to see the incredible worth of this inheritance and to refuse to trade it away to satisfy a momentary craving.

God, all that you have promised and are preparing for those who love you is of such monumental worth. But it takes eyes of faith to see it and a willingness to wait for it when so much in this world promises immediate gratification. ________ has been raised in a home where your great promises are known and loved, but, Lord, we know that ________ must value and take hold of them for himself. Lord, don’t let ________ be immoral or godless like Esau. Don’t let him trade all of the blessings of Christ to satisfy a momentary craving.