God has called and appointed us to our roles as men, husbands, and fathers. And perhaps most days we take this for granted, assume our past sins have disqualified us, or otherwise believe the lie that we don’t have what it takes and so it doesn’t matter either way. As such, we’ve effectively sold our birthright for a comforting bowl of soup.
This was Esau who couldn’t see beyond his momentary distress and sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of soup. He abdicated what was his by birth to satisfy his immediate needs for comfort and relief. And while perhaps not as dramatically, all too often we do the same.
For instance, this is surrendering our role as father and allowing the school, government, or even the church to raise our kids for us simply because it’s easier. Or it’s deferring every marriage decision to our wife to avoid hard conversations and fights. Likewise, it’s just accepting the status quo in our work and communities rather than taking the risk to boldly offer our strength to make a meaningful impact for good.
Whatever it looks like, we’ve sold our birthright when we choose comfort over fully engaging in the role God has given us. And this is true even when we allow the shame of our past sins to take us out. To be sure, our sins come with consequences. But these consequences do not negate the calling God has placed on our life. This is our birthright and it’s not for sale. And we invite much heartache and suffering to ourselves and others when we do.
In the end, hold tightly to the calling God has placed on your life. It’s not worth abandoning for a comforting bowl of soup.
