Question: Why do many who say they will follow the Lord get lost along the way?
This is the story of two brothers, the firstborn was called red/hairy, who would call his son red and hairy? The other, well his name meant something like Tricky. Both are not great names, but for sure the second got the worst deal.
Even so, both were interesting young men.
For context, their tribe had a custom, that the firstborn son was special and he would receive the birthright blessing and lead the tribe.
The birthright
This is the right to lead the tribe to follow God, to teach the tribe the ways of God, to be the priest, to build the altar, to make the sacrifices, and to lead the tribe in the worship of the living God.
Now RED could not care less for the birthright… make sacrifices? What for?… he would say. Leading the tribe to worship the unseen God ..Nah… hire a priest.. job done! Right? Should be fine. Dad will be gone so who is to know? Who will care? My old mum? No one will listen to her ..except that brother I have..but I can fix him. Birthright? …waste of time said Red.
You see the older brother Red had become a man of this world. He was not seeking God’s kingdom first. His only seeking was for the things of the here and now. Wherever your treasure is there shall your heart be also. Luke 12:34
The blessing… so what is this? Authority, wealth, and people you bless will be blessed, if people curse you, they will be cursed. If they bless you they will be blessed. If anyone tries to touch you that man is dead meat. Now you are talking says RED with a big smile, that will keep people in their place. Everyone will fear to touch me. I like that.
And wealth, mmm bucks in the bank, great, more is always nice.
Now his tricky small brother could see that his big brother RED went to sleep when their father was teaching the family the truths of God. Red had no interest in learning how to please the unseen God and Red was always yawning when their mother told them stories of the great men and women of faith. Now, tricky brother, he had failures but he loved to dream of heaven, loved to understand the great truths of God and loved their mum’s stories of faith and God.
So Red could not care less about his birthright and one hard day after the fish were not biting the pigs were hiding and Red was hungry enough to eat a whole pig. He came to the family camp to see his brother, cooking a big pot of meat and bean stew.
The deal
Give me a basin of that stew, did Red say Please? No.. please was only for weak people.
At that moment …something flashed into Tricky’s brother’s mind, get the birthright!
So he says, first give me your birthright. Fine, says Red you can have it, why would I want that? Done.
RED started eating the soup, now this was something to his liking, tasty food.
So RED sold his birthright to his brother for a plate of stew, just like that, like an empty can, he squeezed it, dropped it, and walked off.
Now tricky brother, loved the tribe and the call of God on his grandfather and his father, the call was for the tribe to carry the seed that would be the light of the world. The saviour of the world. That through his tribe all the people of the world would be blessed.
RED had not listened or understood or cared to understand what his Mother and Father had been telling them in stories, stories from the beginning of time. The birthright, the call of God and the blessing go together. And they go to the one who makes sacrifices and knows his God. The one who walks with God. The one who will teach his children the way of God.
And so Red the eldest son loses the blessing.
Red cried for it and shouted and yelled for the blessing, but it was gone. He was careless with the call and so the blessing was lost.
And from that day to this day we say “The God of Abraham, The God of Issac and the God of Jacob. What about Esau? Well, he despised his birthright. When God announced himself to Moses at the burning bush he called himself, I AM the God of Abraham, I AM the God of Issac and I AM the God of Jacob, God named himself this way because he is the God of the living not of the dead. (Matt 22:32)
To those who love the birthright, that is the call of God, to lead the tribe, to lead his family, to them shall also come the blessing.
The Preacher
Preacher take care when you preach the “Blessing of God”
Red was eager for the blessing and he was angry and wanted to kill his brother when he did not get it. When you preach blessing before the calling to the one who has said the sinner’s prayer, maybe that person was baptised and maybe he even gives money to the church, but that person when he does not see the blessing he was expecting, the blessing you promised, the thing he was after, he says your God is fake. But you have promised him a blessing when he was careless with the call of God.
The call
The call is to walk the path that Jesus our Lord walked and said, “Follow Me” I am the way.
The Lord who walked on the lakeside of Galilee and when he saw the fishermen, did he say guys give me your hearts? No! He said follow me.
As we walk this path with our Lord we will learn the ways of God, we become a priest of our family, teaching them the ways of God. We make sacrifices and we hold each of the small ones’ hands so they become strong enough to walk the path.
Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you (the blessing). Amen and Amen.