A childhood friend of mine named Kevin stole a pocket full of rare coins from his father. The collection included a variety of rare and valuable coins, including Liberty-Head quarters, Morgan dollars, and other coins dating back to the early 1800s.
Initially, Kevin denied taking the coins, but he was caught when he spent the coins at face value unaware of their worth. He bought candy and soda at the hardware store and some chips at the grocery store using quarters worth between $5 and $68 a piece, and he also used a Liberty quarter that was worth up to $18,500.
It was one of those instances where it pays off to live in a small town because the owners of the stores returned the coins. Kevin discovered valuable lessons about stealing and value from his father.
That story helps explain that at times people don’t understand the value of their possessions. As believers in Christ, we possess unimaginable, spiritual wealth, and yet there are people that squander that spiritual wealth for a temporary yearning. In Hebrews 12, the Bible warns all believers against trading our spiritual health and wealth for temporal desires.
Hebrews 12:14-17 “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
We are introduced to Esau who traded a title that came with great assets for a bowl of stew! As the first-born son in his family, Esau was entitled to special privileges; but when he sold his birthright, he forfeited his privileged position.
What exactly did Esau forfeit? First, he gave up the privilege of being a priest of his family. In early Hebrew culture, the first-born son was especially consecrated (or given-over) to God. The role of the first born meant that he would have the privilege of representing his family before God as the priest of the family. It would be later on in Hebrew culture that God would direct this privileged role to be transferred to one tribe; Levi. (Numbers 3).
Secondly, Esau gave up his father’s estate. In Esau’s case the estate was only a promise which included all of the Promised Land, the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, & their descendants. The only piece of land his father actually owned was a grave plot. Sometimes a promise for a young immature man like Esau does not mean a whole lot.
So, when Esau sold his birthright, he gave up the priesthood; he gave up the promise land from God; and thirdly Esau gave up his stewardship of the family and the family honor. Simply stated, he gave up his responsibility of the family honor and his family name. The first-born son would have the stewardship of the family security, in financial matters and their overall well-being. That meant that he was to be responsible to provide for his mother till her death, and for his unmarried sisters until they married. That’s one reason why the eldest son received the estate – so he could have the ability to be a steward, provider and protector of the heritage of the family name.
Esau had a great advantage, as the first-born, he had the authority; he had God’s promise of land, and he had the priestly role. And yet, he traded his God given responsibility away for a bowl of stew. Can you see the immaturity in his decision?
A young person will often not look into the future unless they see value in the present! For example, an immature person would think this way: Who wants the responsibility of a priesthood for others? Who would want to hold onto a promise for the future? Why would anyone care to be a steward and honor a family name?
Esau was hungry, and he needed something to eat. He valued only the moment. So, he sold his birthright.
What are some principles that believers are to learn from Esau’s immature choice?
- We must not Trade our Stewardship of God’s Responsibilities.
Don’t trade away our spiritual responsibilities for momentary pleasures. Don’t exchange something of great value to meet a temporary need.
Every believer in Christ is given a stewardship of God’s resources. And every believer in Christ has special privileges, because we are considered as “firstborn” sons of God. See this in Hebrews 12:23 this verse says that believers belong to “the assembly of the first-born.”
So, like Esau, we have the title of God’s first-born and have great privileges. We have access to God through a priesthood; we have the blessing of an eternal promise of God; and we have the stewardship of His Word, His church (people now and after us), God’s gospel and our ministry in this world.
The Bible warns believers in verse 16, “See to it… that no one is… unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.” It is a terrible thing to forfeit our privileges of serving with God for things of little or no eternal value.
First, we shouldn’t sell out our priesthood. We should never trade our opportunity for direct access to God for momentary pleasures. One way we surrender our priesthood is when we sin and do not confess and repent, the Bible states that sin hinders our prayers to God. (Ps. 66:18; Prov. 28:9; Isa. 59:2; Matt 6:12, John 9:31; 1 Peter 3:7; 4:7)
Like the 1st-born in ancient society, we have been set apart as God’s stewards of His will and kingdom. People around us need us. Church, family, friends and the people who need to know about God through us.
Every believer is equipped to do God’s work as a priest! Notice this point in verse 14, the word “holiness” means to be set-apart. We are to be like God…Holy. That’s our position in Christ. God looks on those of us who have trusted Christ as “holy ones,” as “those who have been set-apart for His special use” (1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:9-11). We should not trade this privilege away for anything.
Otherwise, according to verse 14, we would never be able to see Him and sadly others will not either! The moment we put our trust in Christ, God made us holy in His eyes. In Christ, we are made holy so we can approach His throne in prayer and make intercession for others and be a witness to others!
That’s a believer’s position in Christ, that’s why verse 14 says, “Pursue peace… and holiness.” In other words, we ARE set apart for God. The Bible says to “strive” to be like that, and that means…
- We must never Forfeit Our Special Relationship with God.
Like the 1st-born in ancient Hebrew culture, we have an inheritance! And like Esau, that inheritance included the promises of God. We did not deserve His promises, but God gave them from His grace.
That’s why verse 15 says, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.” In other words, don’t fail to claim God’s gracious promises. We should never fail to trust God to keep His word in our future.
All of us come short of the glory of God – none of us are perfect. But none of us need to come short of the grace of God – no one needs to miss out on enjoying His promises; and yet, so many believers do.
We are set-apart for God’s purpose. We are all priests to the living God – all who have trusted Christ. Please, don’t sell out on that privilege. We should never trade our God given stewardship for the momentary pleasures of this world.
And similar to Esau, that means we’re going to have to engage in some difficult spiritual decisions. In order to make a good decision, that means we need to “be careful” as the Bible says in verse 15. That means we might need to refuse to be distracted with the temporary satisfaction of this world. We will also need to not become bitter and then defiled by making bad choices.
We shouldn’t trade God’s promises away for anything. We must not trade our right to discover and enjoy all that God has promised.
A decade after the revolutionary war, an old Native American man, poorly clothed and starving, wandered into a small town. He was begging for food to keep from starving to death. The townspeople graciously gave him some bread, and as he devoured it someone noticed a pouch hanging around his neck. It was a small, dirty pouch attached with a brightly colored ribbon.
The old man explained that it was a charm given to him in his younger days. He opened the pouch and displayed a faded, greasy paper. One of the townspeople looked at it closely and discovered that it was a regular discharge from the Federal Army! It was signed by General/ President George Washington and the old man, and it entitled the bearer to a pension for life.
Do you know, that’s the way some believers treat the promises of God? We might hang a symbol around our neck or place beautiful plaques on the wall, and yet forfeit the privileges they represent. And so we might walk around in spiritual poverty most of our lives, not knowing how well off we really are.
God has given us a rich inheritance in His promises. There are more than we can ever count, and they cover every area of our lives.They take care of every need. They are our birthrights as God’s children. But some believers ignore those promises, or they don’t even take the time to discover what they are. Essentially, they might trade away those promises for other pursuits which have far less value.
Brothers and sisters please don’t sell out on your priesthood. Don’t sell out on the promises of God. Don’t trade your stewardship for short-lived pleasures and…
- We must never Retreat from our Victory through Christ.
For just like the 1st-born in ancient society, God has given us power over sin. He has given us the ability to keep the bitter root of sin from taking hold in our hearts through repentance. That’s why verse 15 says, “See to it…that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”
We do not have to let sin sprout in our life like a bitter root. Instead, when we sin, then, we need to confess that sin. Admit it and turn away from it before it takes root in your life and destroys not only you, but hurts those around us and our access to God in prayer.
The good news is Jesus has given us power over sin through His death on the cross. As we depend on Him, we don’t need to let bitterness, or anger, or worry, or any other sin take root in our life and do so much damage. Specifically, verse 16 says that we shouldn’t let things like “immorality” ruin our life.
We can turn from sin, because God has given us the ability to do so. No believer in Christ needs to be a victim any longer; and yet, so many believers trade those privileges for a moment of pleasure that is not worth the pain it brings in the end.
Don’t sell away your responsibility of being God’s steward, don’t give up your priestly access to God, don’t trade away the eternal promises of God for the temporal, and don’t give up on the victory over sin.
Notice how Esau felt in verse 17 “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Instead of trading God’s blessings for a trinket, let’s “look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (12:2), and enjoy our future inheritance as children of God, and be faithful stewards that He made us to be!