New Hope Notes
Trading The Greater For The Lesser
Excel Still More
Pastor Elwin Ahu
August 19, 2007 - W0733
How many of you watch that show “Deal or No Deal?” My wife Joy and I love to watch that show. It’s a game show where a contestant gets a chance to win a million dollars by simply choosing a briefcase s/he thinks contains the million dollars. The audience watches as it is slowly determined whether or not the contestant actually chose the correct briefcase by revealing the contents of the briefcases s/he didn’t choose (i.e., process of elimination.) The twist in the program, however, is that from time-to-time, a banker calls into the show – as the contents of the other briefcases are being revealed – and offers the contestant certain sums of money (e.g., $20,000) to buy the contestant’s briefcase back from him/her.
When you watch the show, you can see how difficult it is for contestants to determine whether they should take the guaranteed money the banker is offering or hold onto the briefcase they selected (which may or may not contain the $1 million.) It would be easy to decide whether to deal or no deal if the contestant knew what was in the briefcase. And it would be foolish for a contestant to trade what was greater for what was lesser if he knew what the contents of the briefcase were. Yet we see this all the time in life…and we see it in the Bible too. Esau did it; he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew.
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God…that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.” (Heb. 12:15-16)
In biblical days, the birthright of the eldest son gave him authority over everyone in his family (except his father). As part of the birthright, he would receive double the portion of his father’s estate. In other words, since Isaac had two sons (Esau and Jacob), Isaac’s estate would be split into three equivalent portions – two of which would be given to the birthright son and one to the other son. Also in Esau’s case, there was a covenantal promise made to his grandfather Abraham that he would head a family that would fill the earth. Yet Esau traded it all away for s bowl of stew.
Today I’d like to share two premises with you of why we trade things away for lesser things.
From the beginning of time, God has always wanted us to only have the best, but because of disobedience in the Garden of Eden, mankind has brought “less” onto itself. Even when God gave mankind a second chance by wiping the earth clean with Noah and the great flood, again, man’s disobedience brought sin back into the world.
God told Abraham, “I will make your descendants like dust on the earth!” God promised Abraham that his offspring would be so numerous that they would cover the earth but that was hard for Abraham to believe – afterall, Abraham was about 100 years old and his wife was 90 years old and barren! Yet, we all know, they had a son Isaac who carried the same promise of God – dust on the earth – and he and his wife too were having difficulty with pregnancy.
“And Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?’” (Gen. 25:21-22)
This story about Abraham and Isaac, both having difficulty with their wives getting pregnant – even after God told the that their descendants would cover the earth – illustrates the first premise of why I believe we trade away God’s blessing for lesser things…
· FUFILLING GOD’S PROMISES ISN’T ALWAYS AN EASY PROCESS.
For example, think about what it’s like to hold a marriage together when your spouse has given up and wants to bail. Or think about how hard it is to break an addiction even when you know that it’s God’s will. Fulfilling God’s promises are not always easy but how you respond really determines if you will trade away more for less.
While the first premise of why we trade for less is that fulfilling God’s promise is not always easy, the second premise is…
· GOD’S PROMISES
“When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.” (Gen. 25:24)
So when God fulfilled his promise to Isaac and Rebekah was pregnant, it still wasn’t easy. As the scripture says, she was pregnant with twins and “… the children struggled together within her.”
In spite of the difficulties and challenges, we need to obey the Lord…regardless of the results. Otherwise, we become very susceptible to trading away our blessings…
1. WHEN OUR PRESENT IS
When we get caught up in the present, our emotions, and how we feel, we become distracted from what God already has stored up for us. Then let’s see what happened to Esau…
“…and Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.’ …But Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ And Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?’ …so he…sold his birthright to Jacob.” (Gen. 25:30-33)
Esau was famished so his perspective of reality was warped: “…I am about to die.” He wasn’t going to die. As the eldest son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, Esau could’ve demanded food from any of the other families or as a hunter, he could’ve caught some game. But Esau’s example illustrates for us that desperate people make desperate decisions. Similarly, sick people make sick decisions; emotionally drained people and spiritually starved people do not consider consequences.
People often trade the blessing of their family for a career. Did you know that 40% of all American households are fatherless? And that statistic doesn’t include the fathers that are there still a part of the family but who are absent or not engaged with their kids or wife. Sometimes we even trade the blessing of our family for just a moment in time. Studies on internet pornography suggest that the average visitor is male, age 41 years or older with an average salary of more than $60,000. This will cause a wedge between himself and his wife…for momentary, immediate gratification. Or, what about the teenager who will trade their virginity for a moment of closeness…or the woman who trades an unborn child for “freedom”? Why do we trade God’s blessing for momentary pleasures or relief?
We often trade away our blessings when we’re missing something in our life. But often, ironically…
2. WE
“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Gen. 25:34)
When we live in discontent, we spend more time thinking of our blessings as burdens and interferences than as true blessings…
· BLESSINGS BECOME BURDENS WHEN WE LIVE IN DISCONTENT.
Many of you know that before Joy and I adopted Jared, we prayed so much for him and we couldn’t wait to pick him up when the adoption was approved. Yet today, in the busyness of life, I am convicted when Jared wakes up at
When you live in discontent and you view your blessings as burdens, you may end up trading the greater for the lesser…and regretting it like Esau:
“Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring not change of mind, though he sought the blessings with tears.” (Heb. 12:17)
Esau wanted the blessing back. He even asked his father if he could have it back but Isaac had already given it away. Sometimes it is too late when we give something away and later realize that we want it back. So here is the key folks…the key to today’s sermon and the key to life:
· BE GRATEFUL
To have a heart of gratefulness is to be content with what we already have, so we don’t want for what the world has to offer. When Jacob asked Esau for his birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew, Esau should’ve said, “No way!”
We often trade away for God’s blessings because fulfilling His promises isn’t always easy and doesn’t always result in what we expected. When our present circumstances or feelings is all that matter, we tend to sacrifice or forfeit God’s blessings for our future. We often don’t appreciate what we have until it is lost, but then sometimes, we can’t get it back because it is just too late. So if you’re every tempted…don’t trade God’s blessings for immediate gratification! Be grateful. Have a heart of gratefulness and never allow discontent to trick you into thinking that your blessings are burdens.
Jared helps to remind me of the simplicity and joy of life. “Mommy, the sky is so blue,” he says. “Mommy, look at the mountains. They’re so green.” Rainbows? That’s just indescribable yet you can catch glimpses of his gratefulness.
Jared had a little prayer song that he likes to sing (to the tune of Frere Jacques):
God our Father, God our Father
Hear our prayer. Hear our prayer.
Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for your blessings.
A-men! A-men!
We have the inheritance of what God has; it is already promised to us. It’s in our briefcase. Salvation is ours if we just accept it into our hearts. The world will try to offer you a lot of briefcases but when you have the briefcase of salvation (in your heart)… and the World says, “Deal or no deal?” Say, “NO DEAL!”
DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS:
1. Think of a “deal” or choice that God asked you to make but now – looking back on it – you can see that you didn’t make the best choice. What prevented you from making the better choice? What does that tell you about yourself?
2. Tell about a time when you made the best (Godly) choice but it wasn’t easy or it didn’t work out as you expected. How will that affect your decision-making going forward? Does it cause you to doubt Godly choices or has your understanding and appreciation for God’s calling on you grown? Explain.
3. Share about a time when your desire for immediate gratification caused you to forfeit God’s blessing. What did you learn from that and how are you guarding against that in the future?
4. What (or who) are you not appreciating right now which would be devastating if you lost? What can you do to change that and make the most of the blessing God has given you?
5. What can you do today to increase your gratefulness for all God’s blessings? Spend more time at home? Spend more time with your kids? Spend more time outdoors appreciating God’s creation? You may think that “spending more time” on something will just bring on more stress to an already busy schedule but spending more time on the right things will give you a better perspective and hopefully, more peace.
Doreen Rabaino & Jay Tsukayama