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Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Don’t use a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Esau was hungry and he felt like he was going to die… he wasn’t, but that’s how he felt. When he came out of the field from hunting, he smelled that good food Jacob was cooking up and he thought “I’ve gotta have some of that!” but he didn’t. As a result, he sold his birthright. We often get so caught-up with our problems of “today” we loose sight of the “big picture.” In most cases, just breathe, you’ll survive. “this too shall pass” (by the way, that phrase isn’t in the Bible, but it’s true, none-the-less). It may take a few decades, years, months, weeks, days, or even as with Esau, hours… but you’ll be okay. about 90% of our problems come from overly worrying about our problems. Just wait… you don’t have to act RIGHT NOW(!) in most cases. when you feel that urgency about something that’s a MAJOR event in life… slow down… think, pray, ask… One important example of this is our epidemic of suicide. You’re life is not that bleak to lead to that. Don’t use a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Relationships, money, depression… there is real hope in all these things. Ask for help. Reach out to people at a good church. Call the national suicide prevention lifeline 800-273-8255. Get help. Pray. Ask… if you want him, Jesus will not leave you.

*Reading the OT in 2017 plan can be found here

And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her.

Love at first site, more often than not, is not a matter of chance, at least it’s not if it works out for your good and God’s glory. If you want to find a godly wife or husband, or there’s something else you’re wanting in your life, don’t just walk around and hope it takes place out of thin air. If you want a better job, you have to look for it. If you want more knowledge, you have to work for it. If you want a godly mate, you have to put yourself in a position to cross their path. Far too often we complain about what we don’t have and yet we have never done the work to be able to receive such a blessing. The Christian’s walk is not one of just floating through life hoping things turn out for the best and wondering what tomorrow will bring, no, it is a daily struggle of discipline towards the goal of God’s upward calling, to walk worthy of Jesus. What are your goals? How are you accomplishing them? What godly desires has God placed on your heart and what are you doing to make those happen? The Christian life is not a passive life… get out there and make it happen!

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

God had promised Abraham he would become the father of many nations through his son via Sarah. They were not patient to wait the decades it took for God to set his plans in motion, but eventually God still began to act. He needed to be sure of Abraham’s faithfulness, and so he called on Abraham to be willing to give up the thing which was most precious to him, his only son. What a sacrifice, yet he was willing to do it. God did not require Abraham to make this sacrifice, but to be willing to. So it is with us, the Bible does not call on all Christians to sell all their possessions in order to follow Jesus. The Lord does call some to do this, think of the rich young ruler (Mark 10, Matt 19), but this is not required to follow Jesus any more than it is required for you to leave your family (Luke 14). We must be willing to give up what is most precious to us, our possessions or even our loved ones, but God is not vindictive or capricious, he will not take anything away from you without a purpose behind it. Trust him today. Be willing to give him your all, he is worth it.

“Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

Before the angles of God brought destruction on Sodom they gave the opportunity for the family and friends of the believer in the city, Lot, to be saved. So it is with us. We have been given the opportunity to save those whom we know and care about. Destruction is absolutely coming. We must try to compel them to believe in Jesus, the only way to escape the wrath to come. They may think you are crazy, or perhaps “jesting,” as they thought with Lot, but that doesn’t stop our responsibility. Tell them about salvation, tell them about Jesus, he’s their only hope.

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

When you encounter God, you change. For Abram that meant a new name, but it also meant following the Lord. He would become the father of many nations, and so he is. All those who call upon the name of Jesus are heirs of Abraham’s promise. This everlasting covenant was made absolutely rock solid by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Have you trusted in Jesus?