Sermonette: Treasure Your Birthright
Lessons From Esau and Jacob
#1601s
Ted E. Bowling
Given 05-Jun-21; 16 minutes
description: (hide) When the Father poured out His Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in 31 AD, He offered His birthright to the First fruits (Romans 8:14-17) to become His spiritual children. As God's Called-out ones ponder the privilege and the responsibility offered to the firstborn to assume physical and spiritual leadership, they should soberly reflect on the account of the firstborn Esau, who carelessly devalued his birthright, treating it as profane, something to be traded for a bowl of lentil soup. Our father Jacob, though plagued by a conniving spirit, nevertheless knew the superior value of spiritual blessings, and struggled with everything he had within him to hang onto them. God's called-out ones, spiritually in the lineage of Jacob, must be willing to nurture and protect their calling, struggling mightily to hang onto this blessing, enduring occasional trials and tests to make it sure. Disdaining this precious blessing will eventually result in the development of a root of bitterness easily capable of engulfing an individual in self-pity. Realizing that it is indeed possible to fall out of God's grace, God's people must develop the tenacity of Jacob, keeping their eyes on the value of their calling.