Blondes get a lot of bad press. I think people are a bit jealous because blonde ladies are often pretty, so they tell jokes to try to even up the playing field. That’s kind of mean isn’t it?

Of course, you would never imagine me telling a blond joke. Would you?
So, today I leave aside the blonde jokes and I’ll tell you a story about a dumb redhead.

This fellow’s name was Esau. He was a redhead. “And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat.” (Genesis 25:25, 26, NLT)

He seemed to feel good about himself and became a dashing hunter. He was the firstborn to old man Isaac, beating his twin brother Jacob into the world by a few heartbeats. But, there were lightyears of difference in the two men.

“Red” lived for today, while Jacob lived for the long haul.

Once Red came back from hunting. It was one of those days where you either saw nothing to shoot, it was too far away, or you missed your shot. Red had tried hard and long with no results, now he was HUNGRY. And Red hated to desire something very long. He wanted something to eat now, not later.

He walked by his brother Jacob who was cooking red beans, rice and cornbread (I’m not sure about the rice and cornbread part). And when he smelled that, his insides did a double-back flip and he WANTED some…NOW!

If it really was red beans and rice, I can almost understand, but still what happened next was so dumb that people should be telling redhead jokes for a long time. (All you redheads have to love me. It is written.)

When Esau asked for some of the red beans or the red stew or whatever it was, this is what happened.

“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

“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. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.” (Gen. 25: 31-34, NLT)
Abraham and Isaac his son had one of the most incredible promises that God had ever made to a man. Through their family line, He was going to bless all the world. The land they were living in was going to be theirs and God was going to make them a great nation.
Jacob wanted in that promise line. Red wanted a plateful of beans.

They both got what was important to them.

And Me? Beans or Birthright?
I like to joke and preach disparaging sermons about Esau the Red, but I wonder if I’m not often acting like him. God has given you and me an inheritance, but often we leave it on the shelf. He offers us filet mignon and we’re chomping on raw potato peels and pretending it tastes good.
Jesus said, ““I leave behind with you—peace; I give you my own peace and my gift is nothing like the peace of this world. You must not be distressed and you must not be daunted.” (John 14: 27, J.B. Phillips)
That’s our inheritance.
And me? “I don’t know what I’m going to do! (I chew my fingernails and pull at my hair). And then I try one of my “red-bean solutions” instead of pressing into God and learning to trust Him.
Peace! But so much more.
“The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” (Ephesians 1:11, NLT)
Eternal life starts in us the second that we put our faith in Jesus. All the blessings, all the inheritance that goes to God children, is ours.
But, so often, we swap it for things that have no value or such little value they’re like a good meal. Nice for a second and then gone. What God gives us never leaves: His love, His joy, His peace, His presence, His pleasure in us, His help in time of need and so, sooo much more.
All of us, in some areas of our life, are choosing beans instead of birthright. Where are you doing that? What are you going to do about it?

Why don’t you deliberately plan to claim God’s inheritance.
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Hmmm …
He actually gives us an anointing in the area we used to be a victim to. He turns that into our ministry. Our vengeance on the enemy is to set other people free from the very thing he victimized us with. Jim Lange

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