What Will We Do

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

WHAT WILL WE DO

Heb 12:16-17

16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

This seems to be a most difficult statement to understand. Who of us is sexually immoral or godless that we should apply this to our own lives? But yet it would appear to follow in the pattern of the previous statement of seeing to it that no one misses the grace of God. Still the original language carries the concept of being a prostitute or profane person like Esau. What does that mean? Could it imply that some people are in the condition of prostituting themselves to the world? That in fact they have sold their birthright, their blessing from God, for the sake of material gain, worldly comfort, personal ambition or self-interest? Surely we would suspect the most of the ungodly, or the godless people of this world are in that category, as they too are children of God, or at very least among his creation, for He is the God of all creation and thus all people are really His, whether they what to admit it or not. Yet here again we are to see that no one is like Esau, we are to see that no one does prostitute themselves or sell their birthright for the comforts of this world. That would also include all of us in the household of faith. That does raise the question even about missing the grace of God as we saw before. We have a responsibility to each other, to all people to encourage them to stay focused on God, and not get distracted by the comforts this world has to offer, and to engage in any illicit affair with this world system at all. The question we have to ask is have we forsaken our intimate relationship with God for the wiles of this world? Do we desire stuff, more than God? A hard question requires true introspection. At the same time we seem to have the task of sharing this truth with those who are like Esau. If people look to the blessings of this world rather than from God, it appears rejection is in their future. No matter how they cry out, it will be of no avail, for their desire was for personal comfort first, and their birthright was second. What will we do?