Foolish decisions, e.g. Lust for instant gratification

Genesis 25:28-34(NIV)

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”  “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”  But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”  So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Human lust for instant gratification often has terrible and irrevocable future consequences.   In this story the older twin brother, Esau, gave up his birthright to Jacob, his ownership of Isaac’s inheritance that involved a lot more than riches (e.g. his place in Jewish history---the common Old Testament phrase should have been “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau”).   Esau regretted his decision after his lust (appetite) had been fulfilled, but his rash and irrational decision had been made and was irretrievable.  He gave up everything to satisfy an immediate need and, in retrospect, that need was ridiculous—a bowl of stew.

You might be thinking, “I’d never make a foolish decision like that”, but you’re wrong.  Not only would you, but you already have.  Maybe the consequences of your decision for instant gratification did not have the same losses as Esau experienced, but nevertheless you suffered consequences.  Some examples:

·  Choosing to eat junk food rather than food better for you in the long run.  This might be the best example of fixing your mind on the want/need of the moment rather than keeping a future perspective in mind. 

·  Yielding to a sexual temptation that costs you a marriage, a relationship, financial loss, loss of happiness and contentment, etc.

·  Choosing the spend more time on the job than being with your children.

·  Attempting to make the “quick buck” through gambling, business shortcuts, the lure of unscrupulous investors or other “hawkers” who deceive you and you end up losing huge amounts of money and time. 

·  Buying too much on credit, later costing you far more in interest payments and debt that you cannot pay, costing you credit rating problems and other financial problems.  Plus indebtedness disables you from giving to God.

·  Taking the easy way out (e.g. not studying while in school, not disciplining yourself while young to establish your future, not practicing enough in whatever talent or skill you have), then paying the price later with a job you don’t like or a skill or talent forever unfulfilled.

·  Sacrificing friendships because of being deceived that for some reason you are better than your former friend (you see this a lot in the business world where once a person is promoted, he/she forsakes former friends/colleagues).   

Satan is called the great deceiver and these are some example of why “deceiver” so accurately describes him.  The urgency of the present, the need for instant gratification, the tendency to fulfill your lustful appetites now, the lack of wise thought about potential future consequences of decisions made in haste and in lust all are the result of satanic deception either directly or indirectly through self deception.

The wise person learns from his/her mistakes that often involve sacrificing future glory for instant but short lived gratification (the “Esau moment”).  The wiser person is one who rarely makes a mistake like this in the first place, primarily by putting your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and leading your life modeled and guided by Him through His Word.  May you choose right now never to succumb to an Esau moment again.  Live your life and the decisions you make through daily and constant communication with the Lord through His Word and prayer.