“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So, he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

Genesis 38:18

For Meditation

Just like that? Judah! To satisfy a momentary sexual rush, you strip yourself naked, get down, and then get up to leave? You mean, your seal and its cord, and your staff mean nothing to you? How about your dignity, Judah? A moment of sexual pleasure has become more valuable to you then than your self-respect, and more importantly, the holiness of the God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How shameless!

But that is the strength of our fallen nature. When a strong desire takes hold of our senses, we could become like Esau, but for the grace of God.

Some years earlier, Judah’s uncle had similarly traded his birthright for a personal craving. After a fruitless but exhausting hunting expedition in the open country, Esau smelled the sweet aroma of his younger brother’s cuisine. Everything in him screamed, “Famished.” His stomach churned. His mouth drooled.

“Quick, let me have some of your red stew,” Esau said.

“First, sell me your birthright.”

“Look, I am about to die … What good is the birthright to me?” (Gen. 25:32).

“Swear to me first.”

Esau swore to Jacob. He smiled as he dug into the red stew with extreme pleasure.

“He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So, Esau despised his birthright” (34). It is one of the gloomiest commentaries in the Bible for me.

In that instant, he felt his birthright useless.  The firstborn position of Esau in his father’s family was no competition against his aching stomach! How often do we fail to honor our standing in God’s family as a safeguard against reckless satisfaction?

Honoring this position calls for self-control, a fruit of the Spirit. When some ‘great or urgent need’ arises in our lives, and we think our only solution is to abandon our integrity in exchange for immediate personal satisfaction, we despise our salvation and inheritance in Christ. We disclaim our holiness when we sacrifice righteousness for any personal benefit. We become like Esau and Judah.

Judah had secured a moment’s pleasure, but soon, he would face a rude awakening.