Monday, June 24, 2002
I've got a friend who has a lot more beautiful jewelry than her income can afford. She's just really good at getting terrific deals in pawn shops. She only goes to the reputable ones and over the years, she's managed to keep trading up. My friend has an unbelievable instinct for a good deal and she's got the savvy to land that deal. The other day I saw her with this beautiful full-carat diamond ring on. The store price was $2,000 - which there was no way she had. But she had her little bag of trading treasures with her. She traded items that didn't really matter much to her - and she ended up getting that ring for $200.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Worst Trade in the World."
OK, now, good traders try to end up getting something better than what they gave away. It doesn't always happen. In our word for today from the Word of God, Esau made what was arguably the worst trade anyone has ever made. He traded a priceless treasure for a relatively worthless trinket. Tragically, someone reading today may be making a trade like that right now.
Esau is the older brother in his Jewish family, which gives him automatically the birthright - which means double inheritance upon Dad's death, authority over the family and its assets. His younger brother Jacob wants that birthright as we enter this scene in Genesis 25, beginning with verse 29.
"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." Man, you just feel like yelling at the Bible, "Don't do it Esau!" "Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left."
Now, Hebrews 12 says that Esau "for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward ... when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears." So here was the trade that Esau regretted the rest of his life - give up something precious to meet an immediate need.
Do you know how many people have made that same kind of tragic trade? You're trying to meet what seems like a huge need right now - for money, for love, for acceptance, for getting ahead, for getting out of a jam. But to get it, you give up something you'll need and want for the rest of your life - maybe your integrity, your virginity, your reputation, a close relationship, your ministry, your self-respect, even the favor of God.
You could be on the edge of a terrible trade right now. And God is sending you this loving warning - don't give up that lifetime treasure to meet that immediate need. It's a trade you'll regret for the rest of your life.