Dis/Obey - The Price For NOT Doing What You're Told

Hi everyone!

I realised that there was that much to come out of this particular subject that I'd better split it up into two parts!

Before you read this one, let me encourage you to go back and read the first part...

Okay, now let's continue on with this week's topic; disobedience.

You might be wondering why I've chosen Jacob & Esau when there were other Bible characters I could have chosen.

Convincing Persuasion

Jacob has just convinced Esau to trade his birthright because Esau had just come in from a hunt and was no doubt ravenous!

It's his response I want you to look at: -

"When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?"

Let's start off, like I always do, by defining birthright: -

A right that you have because you were born into a particular position, family, place, etc

Wow!

So Esau was willing to give up all that was meant to be his as firstborn, all because he was... HUNGRY?!

Have you ever done something so stupid when you're hungry that you think back on it afterwards and realise that you were only hungry, for goodness sake (ED - I think that's where the word 'hangry' was created!)?!

I know I have!

It involved a wine glass getting broken and no I didn't throw it; I just kinda, sorta, washed it a little bit too hard! :-D

What I'm pointing out here is that oftentimes rationality is the first thing that gets thrown out of reasonable thinking the moment our problems come.

Why that is I do not know, but as I'm sure many of you readers can appreciate (ED - even if you haven't smashed a glass or two in the process!) that a temporary retaliation or lack of thought can often have lasting impacts.

This is why I can't be at our after hours at the moment; whilst I work through my crush and the effect that this wonderful young lady is having upon me. I need space & I need time to pray about this whole thing and to keep seeking God!

So, one act of disobedience, selling Esau's birthright, was something that he should not have done.

But watch this, Jacob was not going to be so innocent after all... and he had Rebekah's help too in verses five to seven of chapter 27: -

But Rebekah overheard the conversation. So when Esau left for the field to hunt for the venison, she called her son Jacob and told him what his father had said to his brother.

His own mother convinced him to trick her husband into stealing Jacob's blessing by going to make his favourite dish. But he protests saying that Isaac won't be fooled so easily because Esau was, and I paraphrase loosely, a very hairy (ED- it's true though, you only have to read the story for yourself!) dude!

Rebekah then makes him clothing to disguise himself as his own brother; talk about deceptive & all for the sake of one blessing!

Don't Give Up When You Could Be So Close!

Thing is, that one blessing would supersede so much more than someone's life; it would see them prosper in whatever they did after their 'blessing' parent died, or so they believed.

What I'm pointing out here is that what started out as Jacob bribing Esau into giving up his birthright, ended up in him stealing another thing that should have been Esau's in the first place; his father's almost deathbed blessing!

There! Right there!

The point I'm trying to make is that if you disobey once, or even dally with disobedience, it will often have lasting effects & consequences that will drag other people into it whether you mean to or not!

#BOOM

Final Thought

Let me encourage you then, if you need a little help on knowing how to make wise decisions that you watch this message from Dr. Charles Stanley, one of my all time favourite ministers: -

I love the work this guy is doing; it's so down to earth yet so powerful as to cut right through the nonsense straight to the heart of the matter!

Before I go today, let me encourage you to do the following when it comes to making a decision: -

1. First, not last, get God's input;
2. Get the input of someone Godly that you can trust to tell you like it is not like you want it to be, or like you want to hear it; and
3. Take that first step!

Trust me, you're not going to regret it! :-)

Yes, we're all going to have moments where we disobey God, but let's try to keep the interference to a minimum so that we'll know the signs to look out for, such as failing to seek God in our daily walks, in order to limit the times we're tempted to disobey.

Watch the skies!