"Eat now, pay later" 

Genesis 25.29-34 

29. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 
30. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom. ) 
31. Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 
32. "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 
33. But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 
34. 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. 

'Eat now, pay later' - my, oh my, do we ever pay later...! Now I know what you are thinking. Yes, I could stand to lose 5 or 50 pounds. Actually, I wasn't thinking about eat/gain, eat/gain, you know the drill. I was thinking about the old proverb of "counting the cost."

This story is about short-sightedness. A story about a guy who thought only about his next meal, no thought about the future. He thought so little about his ultimate future that it is said, (he) "despised his birthright."

This story has all sorts of socio-historical symbolism. It shows the 'hunter/gatherer' losing out to the agriculturalist. It shows the growing distinction in social progression between survival by force and violence, and that of survival by wit and intelligence (it seems we periodically experience regression in that area, even currently).

This story also plays the personality development and genetic traits card...remember how the twins were born? It is also a drama of good and evil; diverse work ethics; two family systems/cultures under the same roof; horizons in conflict.

Wow, all that and all Esau thought was happening was he demanded a bowl of soup. Our actions and responses are never as simple as they seem on the surface. We respond to our milieu with all the force of thousands of years of genetic mess and the willfulness of a petulant child when needy.

So where's the hope? We must lift up our head, lift up our eyes, develop vision and hope! The word 'Hope' just screams 'future!' Our hope isn't in the past, it's placed in some situation or turn of events in the future. If we don't look up, we don't see down the road.

Jacob looked down the road. Esau looked for soup. Jacob was seen as an opportunist when he merely was taking advantage of an opportunity. Esau typifies the person who cries foul after not thinking a situation through.

With whom did God have sympathy? Jacob. I suspect that Esau was far more likable than Jacob and probably would have won more popularity contests than Jacob. However, when it comes to being a good steward - God expects us to get the most out of our talents, abilities, situations, life.

One never knows what one can get out of a bowl of soup, does one?