My Kingdom for a Horse... or in other words

“My kingdom for a horse” is a famous line from Shakespeare’s Richard III play (Act V, Scene IV) in which the king, in desperate straits, is willing to trade his kingdom for a means of speedy escape from his present predicament... namely defeat. We are often like this historical figure/theatrical character; we look for quick remedies to long-created problems. King Richard reminds me of Esau of the Bible who is described as godless because he sold his birthright for a pot of stew. The immediate need of filling his gullet outweighed the longstanding benefits of his inheritance as firstborn: "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" (Hebrews 12:16). <

In Middle Eastern culture in Biblical times, the firstborn son inherited the land, the name, and the blessing of his father, but he also inherited the responsibilities of being a kinsman redeemer and working the land. Esau likely wanted the benefits, but none of the responsibilities. Does this description sound like us? As the older son, he received a double portion of inheritance; in addition, he inherited the role of father and protector of his family. As the first-born of his father's loins, he was a type of first-fruits given to God. He was responsible for his mother until her death and any unmarried sisters until they married. In the same way, God gives a promise- a bright future and hope- all of which we want, but the hard work, the responsibility, the struggles, the difficulties, those we would just as soon do without. How shortsighted of us! We, in essence like Esau, sell our birthright for the temporal satisfaction of ease. Y’Shua warns that we should let no man take our crown. His statement clearly points out that if we do not fulfill the commission that is for our lives, someone else very well may, and that person will receive the reward, not us. Rev. 3:11 states, "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown." Ouch.

Sometimes, we sell our inheritance by taking a symbolic bowl of stew in the form of a person who looks good on the outside and promises to fill our hearts. Another person does not thrill us in the same way- sure the person may be godly and full of the fruit of the Spirit, but that interests little. Like Esau we saddle ourselves, we settle for a bowl of stew which we costs us more than we could know at the time; "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). We can't fulfill the call on our lives because that person does not share the same vision. Not that Hungry, MJ