Boxes and Stew

Have you ever witnessed a kid on Christmas morning? I mean a young kid, think toddler. Cool new toys within their grasp and what do they go for? The box. You could spend hundreds of dollars on one of those cars for kids or maybe a slide and the kid will get excited and then play with the box. Sure they appreciate the toy, and they'll get some use out of it. But right now, that box has everything they could ever need. Right now, that box is a spaceship to another world, a house for a teddy bear or something else too imaginative for my adult mind to comprehend. Does that get under your skin sometimes as parents? To look at the child so happy with a box and say, why don't you want this gift I searched for? This gift I knew you wanted, that I knew you would love? Why is it, when I offer you something amazing, you only care for a cardboard box?
I bet if Esau was a kid in today's society, he would have only ever played with boxes. In Genesis 25:27-34, we see the whole scene play out.

"The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking 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."

Back up real quick for a lesson on birthrights. According to Deut. 21:17, the firstborn son (the one who received the birthright) got a double portion of his father's estate. He took over as head of the household and carried on the family name. He was also blessed by the father before the father died. The father could not give the birthright to a younger son, but the son could forfeit the birthright, lose it, or sell it, which is exactly what Esau does here.
He sells all that he is entitled to by birthright for a bowl of stew. He may not have been a great cook, but he probably could have whipped something up before he died from his hunger. Yet he doesn't. He chooses the box over the gift. Sounds silly doesn't it?
Don't we do the same thing so often? Romans 8:17 tells us that we are the children of God-- that we are his heirs. With that, we become co-heirs with Christ. Through Jesus, we receive a birthright that was never meant for us. We receive a gift we didn't ask for, because it should be unattainable. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are welcomed into God's family like we are his firstborn. But how often do we settle for what the world offers us? We want what we can see and what can bring us pleasure now. We certainly don't want to wait until we die to see the full effects of our inheritance play out. Side note: I definitely believe that we can see God move and work in our world when we come to know him and I believe that his Kingdom crashes into our own world, but I'm talking about the whole shabang played out in full as we will see after our death.
Here is a life example of something I have worked and worked to overcome. I am an avid reader. Fiction book junkie right here. And most books it seems I get my hands on, be they science fiction, thriller or anything else, let the hero get the girl and then some if you know what I mean. Many are filled with sexual scenes worse than any movies and I began to feel convicted that I shouldn't read these books. But this was my way to unwind after a hard day. Surely I was allowed that, right? So I denied the conviction and continued to read the books even though I knew they would have a trashy scene or two. Then this story hit me like a brick and I started to think about how insignificant these books were compared to eternally walking with my Creator. I was selling my birthright for stew.
What is your stew? Pornography? Anorexia? Drunkenness? Sex? Greed? Addiction? Obsession over body image? Material wealth? The list is a mile long. Is there something you feel famished for that isn't in line with God's word? Is there something you would argue, like Esau, that you would die without it? Give it to God. Remember that no pleasure or sin in this world compares to His future glory, and he longs for you to have a part in that. For me, it took me writing the word Soup on my kindle, to caution myself in what books I read because they are stew in comparison to the feast God has for me. So take action. Do something or talk to someone. Forget about the box, and instead, enjoy the beautiful gift God has prepared just for you.