Do Not Jeopardize Your Heritage for a Moment’s Pleasure

Life is hard no doubt and sometimes it doe seem more difficult for some people than others. Many times we are faced with situations that need our quick action to cut off others who we consider our competitors.  We may be faced with a dilemma but chose not to share the dilemma because we assume by so doing we may waste time or we may be dissuaded against the thing when in our mind that is all we want. Perhaps it could be greed that takes captive of our thinking or just pure lust.  

The problem with such quick actions is that they lose sight of the future. How many people are homeless today because they acted impulsively because they were greedy for more? How many have destroyed their marriage because of momentary lust? How many have betrayed loved ones for something they craved for? At first we may feel satisfied and sometimes even powerful because we have got what we set out to get. The price however for such actions is sometimes too high and unfortunately cannot be reversed.

A good example in scripture of a person who acted impulsively for a moment’s desire was Esau. Esau was Jacob’s older twin brother.  By virtue of his position he had the eldest son birthright which entitled him to a double portion of the family’s inheritance together with the honor of one day becoming the head of the family. Esau was also his father’s favorite son while Jacob was his mother’s favorite. Esau was “a skillful hunter, a man of the field” while Jacob was “a mild man dwelling in tents”, Genesis 25:27.

One day Esau came from working from the field and he was hungry. His brother Jacob in the meanwhile was making some tasty stew at home. Esau asked for some stew from Jacob and Jacob being the trickster saw a chance to get what he wanted. So Jacob asked his brother to sell him his birthright in exchange for the stew and Esau responded “look, I am about to die; so what is the birthright to me?” (Genesis 27:29-32). Off course Esau was not dying of starvation but he was hungry and was only exaggerating for effect.

Jacob insisted on Esau swearing that he was releasing his birthright for the bowl of soup “and so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. —Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:33-34). Imagine what Esau did for immediate pleasure. He acted on impulse satisfying his immediate desires without pausing to consider the long term effect of his action. The pressure of his momentary hunger distorted his perspective making his decision seem urgent.  For a bowl of stew Esau lost his heritage and at the appointed time, his father Isaac blessed Jacob, (Genesis 27).

We also experience such pressures in our lives. For example a married person may experience sexual pressure and ignore the marriage vow to get momentarily pleasure. The pressure to have sex with the other person is so intense that nothing else at that moment matters. David fell into such a temptation when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. As David looked from the rooftop he saw a beautiful woman taking a bath and was filled with lust. Instead of fleeing from this temptation David proceeded to enquire more about the woman.  

The adultery resulted in a pregnancy which David tried to cover up. When this did not succeed he proceeded to murder Bathsheba’s husband to cover his sin. Bathsheba mourned her husband. “And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 11: 2-26).  The consequences of David’s actions would have great ramification on his family and kingdom. Prophet Nathan who bore the sentence that the Lord had pronounced on David said “behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. —the child also who is born to you shall surely die” (2 Samuel 12: 11-14).  

This prophecy came to pass in that the son conceived of the illicit sex died (2 Samuel12:18). Amnon, David’s first born son raped Tamar, his half sister, and was latter murdered by Absalom, David’s third son for this action (2 Samuel 13-14). Later Absalom rebelled against David and tried to create a mutiny. He set up tent on the roof and slept with 10 of David’s concubines openly (2 Samuel: 15-18). Adonijah the fourth son is said to have been very handsome but was never disciplined. He set himself as king before David’s death. Although David forgave him when he was exposed, Solomon his half brother who became king after David, had him executed (1 Kings1, 2). Solomon born of Bathsheba seemed to have inherited his father’s weakness because his downfall came as a result of the many wives and concubines he acquired in his lifetime (Nehemiah 13:26).If David had known of the painful consequences of his sin he would not have pursued the pleasure of the moment.

We can protect ourselves from losing perspective because of pleasure of the moment by earnest prayer for God to help us stay away from people, places and situation that may tempt us.  Secondly, study the word and memorize it that it may protect you at the appropriate time. When Jesus was tempted all He did was quote scripture back to the devil. Get an accountability partner or get wise counsel before engaging in anything that may be a trap. Learn to be content in whatever situation you are in or with what you have because this takes care of our greed and unholy desires. Be thankful in every situation you are in because by so doing you learn to appreciate what you have.

God is not the author of confusion and anything that forces you to act fast and secretly or anytime you feel tempted to do so, please pause and take a deep breath before you act. You will save yourself and your loved ones a lot of pain in the future.