For a Bowl of Stew

The real issue is choice. To secure the future God offers and to receive the inheritance He has promised, we need to choose.

On December 26, 1941, mere weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill stood before a joint session of Congress and spoke of "some great purpose and design being worked out here below."

What is that purpose?

Why did God create man in the first place? Why are we here? Why were we born? Where are we going? How are we going to get there?

The answer to these questions can be found in only one place.

And it isn’t what scientists or university professors or the preachers of mainstream religion have come up with.

There is only ONE, SUPREME, FINAL Authority that provides the answers to these most basic, fundamental questions of life.

In the pages of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, the Great God and Creator of ALL things provides us with the answer. He reveals a grand purpose for all of mankind.

A purpose so special; a purpose so awesome in scope, so majestic, it defies human comprehension.

And the Bible authoritatively declares that God’s purpose shall stand. Even if it seems too good to be true, it will happen (Isaiah 46:10; Romans 9:11).

Most people assume the purpose of life is to build a career, raise a family, accumulate material possessions and enjoy as much of life as possible before death. The Bible, however, reveals a purpose far greater, far grander, so colossal it sounds totally incredible.

In Psalm 8:3, the young shepherd boy David, as he tended his father’s flock, looked up into the night sky and considered the vastness of God's creation. Surrounded by countless stars, he asked this of the God he revered and respected.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

4 What is man that You are mindful of him? and the son of man that You visit [or care for] him?

David wanted to know WHY the Great God of the universe even pays attention to insignificant man.

Continuing in verse 5.

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

This same passage is quoted by the apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter 2, with so much more added.

Speaking of a future world to come — God’s wonderful world tomorrow — whereof we speak, Paul continues where David left off.

Notice Hebrews 2:8.

8 “You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He [God] put all in subjection under him [man], He left nothing that is not put under him.

When God says “all things,” He means EXACTLY what He says.

The vast, infinite universe is how the Moffatt version renders the Greek words “ALL things” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

In other words, God has decreed the entire universe — all of its galaxies, its innumerable suns and planets, EVERYTHING — will be put in subjection to man.

At first glance, that seems difficult to believe. Human beings are weak and temporary. We struggle with sickness, failure, sin and death.

And Paul acknowledges that we do not yet see all things under man's authority. This is yet future. But then he reveals God is bringing "many sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2:10).

That is why you and I were born.

We were not created merely to exist for a few decades and then disappear into oblivion.

We were not created simply to earn a living, raise a family, pay bills, retire and die. The scripture confirms that you and I are destined to be changed from mortal to immortal. To become spirit-born sons of God.

GOD-BEINGS!!

Created for glory. Created to become part of God's family.

That is the magnificent destiny God has in store for us.

Understanding that purpose changes everything. It changes how we view success. It changes how we view suffering, disappointments, difficult times. It changes how we view the temporary things of this life.

But the real issue is choice. To secure the future God offers and to receive the inheritance He has promised, we need to choose.

The Bible illustrates this through two men: Esau and Moses.

As Isaac’s firstborn son, Esau possessed a priceless birthright. Yet one day he sold it to his brother Jacob for a bowl of stew. To satisfy a temporary craving, he surrendered something of immense value.

And when Esau realized what he had lost, he tearfully begged for the blessing. He wanted the inheritance back. But he was rejected because he found no place for repentance (Hebrews 12:17).

Esau was sorry for what he had lost. But worldly sorrow and genuine repentance are not the same thing (2 Corinthians 7:10). He wept over the consequences of his choice. But there was no change of mind or heart regarding his birthright.

His story stands as a warning. A person can become so focused on immediate desires that he loses sight of something infinitely more valuable. Many make the same mistake today. They trade eternal things for temporary things. They exchange an awesome future for a proverbial bowl of stew.

Moses, however, made a different choice.

Hebrews 11 tells us that Moses had access to all the wealth, power and privilege Egypt could offer. He lived at the center of the most powerful kingdom on earth.

Yet Moses walked away from it. Why?

Because he understood something Esau never did. The pleasures of this world are temporary. The abundant life in the Family of God in the Kingdom of God is eternal. It is forever. And far more valuable.

Paul wrote that Moses chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). He looked beyond the present. He looked beyond Egypt. He looked beyond wealth, status and comfort. He fixed his eyes on the inheritance God had promised.

Esau traded the future for the present. Moses sacrificed the present for the future.

Esau valued the meal before him. Moses valued the inheritance before him.

One man saw only today. The other saw eternity.

That same choice confronts every one of us. Will we live for the temporary or for the permanent? Will we focus on the immediate or on the ultimate? Will we value our birthright or treat it with disdain?

Winston Churchill spoke of a great purpose being worked out here below.

The Bible reveals what that purpose is. God is growing His Family. 

He is bringing many sons and daughters to glory. He is preparing human beings for a future beyond anything this present world can offer.

That is why you were born.

That is where you are going.

That is your birthright.

What will you choose?