AIN'T NO SOUP GOOD ENOUGH

Ohhhh, soup.  I'd knock over an old lady to get to a great bowl of soup.  Totally kidding!  (Kind of.)  But really, there's nothing like a ridiculously good bowl of soup to fill a hungry tummy.

Just ask Esau.  He traded everything for one bowl of soup.  One.

His birthright. The accompanying honor.  The cattle, the money, the title.  

Yeah, all of that is worth it for a bowl of soup....right?

Before we judge Esau's folly, we have to acknowledge our own.  Because, sadly, we make similarly foolish trades.  

Financial safety traded away in exchange for worthless stuff bought with credit cards.

A life of purpose traded away in exchange for comfortable living.

Families traded away in exchange for a fling.

And all of a sudden, Esau's trade isn't the only one that seems foolish.

We have to act on behalf of what we do not yet see.  We need to live as though there's a future that awaits.  Today is not the only day we need to consider. 

Because a day will come when the blessing of the birthright will be distributed...and those who have traded it away will loathe their own folly.  And a day awaits when the kids will ask you why you didn't choose them over your addiction (or over that someone).  The time will come when the bank wants its money and doesn't want to hear your sob story.

Our promise in God our Father is abundant life.  But abundance evaporates in the midst of these unwise trades.  Shackles clang shut on our hands and feet while freedom disappears like a vapor when we exchange worthy things for unworthy ones.  And we get a lesser version of what God intended for us to have.  

His mercy is great--unfathomable.  But let us be vigilant against foolish trades in our desire to be filled.

He had in mind more for us.

 
* That insanely delicious-looking soup up there is Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup, and WOW is it good!!!  Find the recipe here. You are welcome!!