by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Esau was so famished the day he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup that he probably had no trouble eating all that Jacob gave him. His eyes were not bigger than his stomach, but his stomach was bigger than his soul.<\/p>\n
Like so many today, Esau allowed himself to be swept away by his senses. He felt <\/b>hungry; he could see <\/b>the red stew; no doubt its aroma <\/b>whetted his appetite, and how he yearned to taste <\/b>it!<\/p>\n
While there’s nothing wrong with being ravenously hungry, some things cost too much. In forfeiting the tremendous promises God had made to Abraham, Esau ate one of the most expensive meals in history!<\/p>\n
Esau “became a skillful hunter<\/em>” (Genesis 25:27 NASB). He had gained mastery over his reflexes but not over his impulses. At that decisive moment, nothing had higher priority than a bowl of stew.<\/p>\n Esau’s folly is repeated countless times daily. A young person trades purity for a moment’s pleasure. A businessperson exchanges integrity for a quick buck. A weak Christian discards his convictions to be popular with his peers.<\/p>\n Esau’s unbridled appetite may take a different form-but it still enslaves.<\/p>\n “See to it . . . that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal<\/em>” (Hebrews 12:15-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So we’ve been warned.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Esau was so famished the day he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup that he probably had no trouble eating all that Jacob gave him. His eyes were not bigger than his stomach, but his stomach was bigger than his soul. Esau’s problem Like so many today, Esau allowed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[156],"class_list":["post-95591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-lust"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-birthright-and-a-blessing-as-in-the-story-of-esau-and-jacob\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":0},"title":"What is the difference between a birthright and a blessing as in the story of Esau and Jacob?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the difference between a birth right and a blessing as in the story of Esau and Jacob? Answer: Birthright: A birthright referred to a person's inheritance. For most of the world's history, the firstborn child of a family would receive an extra inheritance from his father. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-confused-by-the-names-of-esaus-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":1},"title":"I’m confused by the names of Esau’s wives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a question regarding the question asked to you: \"Was Mahaleth a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father Isaac?\" Part of your reply mentioned Genesis 28:9, \"so Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael.\" In my Bible,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/please-explain-john-834-55-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":2},"title":"Please explain John 8:34-55 to me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please give me the best-detailed description of John 8:34-55. Who is there, what, who is speaking to whom, and its meaning. Also, who is Mount Seir? Who are perpetual haters? Who is\u00a0\u00a0 Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated? Who is Esau today? Who is Edom? Who are those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-mahalath-a-canaanite-and-did-esau-marry-her-to-get-back-at-his-father-isaac\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":3},"title":"Was Mahalath a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father, Isaac?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Mahalath a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father, Isaac? Answer: \"When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92741,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-isaac-want-to-bless-esau\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":4},"title":"Why did Isaac want to bless Esau?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey there. Regarding Genesis 27. Why does Isaac intend to bless Esau when the prophetic voice had already declared, \"The older shall serve the younger\" (Genesis 25:23)? Also, why does Isaac twice indicate that he suspects that Jacob is pulling a trick on him, yet does nothing? It seems\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-pick-jacob-for-salvation-before-or-after-he-was-born\/","url_meta":{"origin":95591,"position":5},"title":"Did God pick Jacob for salvation before or after he was born?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In regards to your article \"Predetermined Destiny\": First, after stating in paragraph five that God's selection of Jacob was made before Jacob was born, you turn right around and say that God's selection of Jacob was not made before he was born. Well, which is it? Did God pick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Unspeakably sad!<\/h2>\n