BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“‘All right,’ Jacob replied, ‘but trade me your rights as the firstborn son’” (verse 31). “‘Look, I’m dying of starvation!’ said Esau. ‘What good is my birthright to me now?’” (verse 32). “But Jacob said, ‘First you must swear that your birthright is mine.’ So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.” Talk about a lousy deal! Esau was not dying of starvation. He was just hungry. His flesh wanted food and wanted it right now. But instead of saying no to his flesh he gave in to it. Rather than trusting God to provide for him some other way, he traded away his BLESSING as the firstborn (not to mention his place in the faith hall of fame)—for one…single…meal. “Well, that’s a sad story,” you might say, “but it’s in the Old Testament. What does it have to do with us, as New Testament believers?” A lot, because if we’re not watchful, we can replay it in our own lives. We can let the carnal demands of our flesh trick us into making unholy choices that will keep us from walking in THE BLESSING that belongs to us as joint heirs with Christ. We can get our eyes off who we are in Him, let the downward pull of our flesh deceive us, and wind up trading the high life of God for the low life of temporal fleshly gratification. We don’t like to think we’d ever do that, but the book of Hebrews warns us it’s a danger. It lists in chapter 11 the Old Testament heroes who by faith overcame that danger, and says to us in chapter 12: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…. [Let us] pursue…holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God…lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears" (verses 1-2, 14-17, "New King James Version"). Who’s the Boss? Those are serious words! They may not be as fun to meditate on as some other words in Scripture, but we’d be wise to keep them in mind. We don’t want to be people who, like Esau, sell out THE BLESSING that belongs to us, as sons and daughters of God, just to satisfy some fleshly desire. We don’t want to let the devil and the carnal temptations and distractions of this world trick us into giving up our inheritance. On the contrary! We want to live as God said in Deuteronomy 11:21, in “days of heaven upon the earth.” We want to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers (3 John 2). We want to be right in the middle of what God is doing these days and be part of the Church described in Ephesians 5:27 as “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing…holy and without blemish.” How do we make sure we walk in all those blessings? For one thing, we stop letting our flesh boss us around. Instead of giving in to it, when our flesh puts ungodly demands on us, we yield to our reborn spirit and mortify the deeds of our body (Romans 8:13). We say, “No, flesh! You don’t have dominion over me anymore. I don’t have to do what you say. I belong to Jesus, and I do what He says!” In other words, we follow the instructions given by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12, where he said: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (verses 1-2). Notice those verses say we’re to present our bodies as holy. The word holy means “devoted to God.” It refers to something that’s set apart for Him, to be used only by Him and for His purposes. The tithe, for example, is called holy in the Scripture, because it belongs to God and God alone. People who take the tithe and spend it on themselves are taking money that doesn’t belong to them. They’re literally stealing from God. (See Malachi 3:9.) * * * * article continues on p. 29 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Points to Get You There: 1) When your flesh puts ungodly demands on you, yield to your reborn spirit and mortify the deeds of your body. Rom. 8:13 2) Remember that your body doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to God. 1 Cor. 6:19 3) Make a decisive dedication of your body to the Lord. Rom. 12:1 4) Fill your mind with God’s Word so that you increasingly think, talk and act like Him. Rom. 12:2 5) The more you fix your eyes on Jesus in the Word, the freer you’ll be to live like who you are in Him. 2 Cor. 3:18 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 28 : BVOV

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