Know Your Rights!
by Gloria Copeland
We all like to read about the great heroes of faith in the Bible. Seeing how they believed God, obeyed Him, and walked on the earth in His BLESSING, inspires us to follow their example. It fires up our own faith and causes us to say, “I want to live like that!”
As fun as it is to read about such people, we can also learn a lot from their opposites: from those who didn’t do what God said and, as a result, missed out on THE BLESSING He had in store for them. Those whose stories remind us of what not to do, and cause us to say, “I don’t want to be like that!”
Take Esau, for instance.
You probably remember him. He was Abraham’s grandson and he could have been one of the great faith examples of the Old Testament. Born of the lineage of the man Romans 4:16 refers to as the father of our faith, he was not only an heir of the Abrahamic covenant and a member of the wealthiest, most powerful family on earth, he was positioned to be its primary heir. As Isaac’s eldest son, the birthright of the firstborn belonged to him.
Sadly, however, Esau gave up that birthright by making a foolish choice one day. He came home very hungry from working in the field, and finding his brother, Jacob, had cooked a stew, Esau said, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!”
Read how their conversation went in Genesis 25:31-33, "New Living Translation"):
27 : BVOV
