Immediate Gratification

Jacob and Esau were in competition with each other as fraternal twins. Esau was a hunter, and he was the oldest. Jacob loved to cook and help his mother. Isaac preferred Esau, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. God told Rebekah that the older would serve the younger, even before they were born. She may have told Jacob this, but we do not know. One day, when Esau was very hungry after his hunting trip, Jacob took advantage of his brother's hunger. He has stew, which Esau was dying to eat. He told him he could have it if he would trade his birthright for it. Esau agreed, and sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. (Genesis 25:33,34) We all need to learn a huge lesson from this.

Many people have a huge problem with needing to meet their human desires or needs immediately. This has always been a difficulty, but it is even more of a problem in our culture where we get things so quickly, almost instantly. These needs and desires are tort what the Bible calls the flesh. The devil uses our flesh to lead us to sin. If we want to gratify the flesh immediately, we will often not listen to the Lord. We will be selfish. We will not be disciplined to follow the Spirit. We will make foolish, rash decisions like Esau. Those decisions have long lasting impact on our lives. Therefore, we must allow the Spirit to empower us to delay gratifying the flesh, so we do His will. Then, we will enjoy the benefits of living in righteousness and God's blessings.
#NHBaptistdotorg

Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 27-29.