February 21st, 2022 – Later Monday Afternoon
“…That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” ~Hebrews 12:16-17
Have you ever had a priceless treasure? If you have, you know that you are very careful with that treasure. You are careful how you use it, how you display it, who you display it for, how you store it, how you maintain it, etc. That priceless treasure is unmistakable to you and it can never be counterfeited or substituted. You do not neglect it and you most certainly will NEVER trade it for anything else.
This same kind of attitude is what we would expect a husband or a wife to have for their spouse, a parent to have for their child, etc., but it is also the attitude that we should expect a child of God to have for his relationship with his Father.
Look at this passage again… The Greek word used for “immoral” here is the word used for “fornicator” or “someone who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse” (i.e. sexual relations outside of Biblical marriage). It is also used outside of Scripture to refer to a male prostitute – a vile and disgusting picture of sexual perversion and idolatry. The immoral person referred to in our passage today trades the priceless treasure of their relationship with the Father for a temporary, empty, and perverted form of pleasure. On top of that, the word for “godless” means “profane”; it is equivalent to “unhallowed or common”. The idea here is someone who treats their relationship with the Father, their salvation and redemption, as something common or ordinary; they profane what is to be holy, sacred, and extremely valued.
The example of Esau should hit us in the eyes the next time we are tempted to treat our relationship with the Father so lightly: Referring to Genesis 25:29-34 and Genesis 27, we see first that Esau sold his birthright (which carried with it much in the way of family rights, privilege, and responsibility) to his conniving brother Jacob for a silly stew of lentils!!! Then, when Jacob (and his mother Rebekah) deceived Isaac and stole the greatest patriarchal blessing from Esau (who had already lost his birthright), Esau could do nothing but weep and plot a fruitless revenge. While he couldn’t help Jacob’s deception at the last, he could have retained his birthright at the first. Now, there was no room for repentance; there was no regaining what was taken; and, there was no replacing what had been lost. Esau was a fool.
Does that sound harsh? It should. Yet, Esau’s behavior – like unto that of throwing away the sacred for the common – is surely foolish…and godless. And it is exactly to this point that we, as children of God through Christ Jesus our Lord, are being brought to in this passage. We must NEVER treat our relationship with the Father of glory as an ordinary or common thing; we must NEVER sacrifice the greatest treasure for the fleeting, foolish, and deadly pleasures of the world, the flesh, and devil. To continue down such a wayward and wicked path will spell death for us and it will only lead to terrible grief in the end when there is no room for repentance.
My beloved friends, let us treasure the priceless treasure of Christ and the relationship with the Father that He has secured for us. Let us not allow our eyes to be taken off of Him nor allow our souls to be satisfied with anything less than His deep and intimate love. May we never profane that which is precious and holy, and may we be quick to respond to His conviction if we do. He is the greatest treasure and we are so blessed to know Him and to be known by Him!