There was once a boy named Paolo. Paolo’s parents worked hard to
give their children decent lives and education. The father always told his children that their education is the only thing they could leave them, for they
owned no property or business. Soon, Paolo had a girlfriend. And because he
wanted to prove that he was a real man to his friends, Paolo slept with her. The girlfriend got pregnant. Because he didn’t want to shame his father further, he married
his girlfriend to give their child a proper family. But to support his new
family, Paolo had to stop schooling to look for a job. Because of his pride and
his desire to fit in, he lost the only inheritance his parents could leave to
him.
How
many of us are like Paolo? How many of us give up what is good because of the
pressures of this life? The pressure to belong? The pressure to conform? The
pressure to provide? The pressure to please others? The pressure to survive?
Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:29–34)
Esau was the firstborn of the twin
sons of Isaac. As such, he was sole heir of everything his father owned.
Moreover, he was second-in-command to Isaac over the whole estate. On top of
all that, he is to be heir to the covenant promises that God made to Abraham
passed down to Isaac, despite the fact that Abraham had seven other children
(Genesis 25:1–2, 5–6).
