It only took a bowl of soup to make Esau give up his whole inheritance (Genesis 25:33). It only took a bowl of soup held before the hungry Esau to make him give up what would otherwise have been passed down through the generations of his family. For a bowl of soup Esau, so impulsively, gave up everything that was of enduring value in his life. And after the soup was finished, he was left empty and bitter. This is not only the story of Esau but the story of so many people. Adam gave up his heavenly eternal life in the Garden of Eden for one bite of one piece of forbidden fruit. Men and women give up their marriages and betray their families for a fleeting relationship that makes them feel good for a season. People turn away from God and abandon their pathway of blessing for the fleeting joy of achieving a worldly goal. Today you might easily do the same. This day could hold great blessing with God for you. Today you might be fruitful as you love others and fulfil God’s purpose. Or you could give this up for what is, by comparison, a bowl of soup. You may impulsively choose instead to satisfy your own vanity, anger, lust, selfish ambition or any other misdirected impulse. If you do, and then turn back to God, he will restore you to his blessing; but I wouldn’t count on that. You can count on God’s grace, but you can’t count on your own willingness to return once you have slipped away. Stay with God and avoid the soup.
Reflect on what you will choose today: your own impulses or the life that God has for you.
Read Hebrews 12:14-29
