"For a Bowl of Soup" January 12 Readings: Genesis 25-26, Matthew 9:1–26, Psalm 8, Proverbs 2:6-8
Reading the Bible in 2025
Each day this year we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety.
NOTE: If you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!
Bible Readings: Genesis 25-26, Matthew 9:1–26, Psalm 8, Proverbs 2:6-8
Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version
Daily Devotional: For a Bowl of Soup
Jacob and Esau—what a mess they were! Jealousy. Rivalry. Anger and bitterness. This was not a functional family, and it seemed to have started in the womb. These two were as different as night and day. Esau was a redneck, out hunting and fishing and doing manly things. Isaac loved that. Jacob was a momma's boy, staying in the kitchen and working on his culinary skills (Genesis 25:27).
One day, Esau the elder came in after a long day in the fields and he smelled a stew that Jacob was cooking. Being both famished and impatient, he had to have some of the stew. “Let me eat some of that red stuff because I’m exhausted," he said.
Jacob was a schemer, and he immediately laid his trap. If Esau wanted some food, he was going to have to give up his birthright - his status as the family's firstborn, the one who would inherit and become the family patriarch.
No way, you might think. Who would give up such a wonderful thing as his birthright for a simple pot of stew? No one would be that foolish, would they? Meet Esau. Without a thought to the consequences, he made the deal, gave up his birthright, and wolfed down the stew.
For a moment of fullness, he sacrificed his future. He prized present pleasure and forgot the future consequences of his choices. How soon after the stew settled in his stomach do you think he began to regret the deal? He gave away the future for a bowl of stew! What a fool.
Every day we make choices - life is choices. We must often choose between what we want and what is right, between present pleasure and future blessing. Often, that which is right and best is not that which provides the moment of pleasure. We must choose to forgo that moment for the glory, the blessing of God that lies ahead.
We have a birthright - those who have been born again by the grace of God. The Father is at work in us to conform us to Christ and to bless us with his presence. We are destined to be like Christ. That destiny is settled by God's grace. But often, on a daily basis, we sacrifice our heritage, our birthright, for a bowl of soup. We turn from what God is doing in our lives to enjoy a moment of what this world offers. Make no mistake about it - this world can never offer us more than a bowl of soup. And that bowl is never worth our birthright!
Most of the decisions we have to make are between what is right and what we want right now. Right, or right now. Between the blessing and the bowl of soup. Which is it going to be? When you are in a moment of temptation, are you going to do what you want to do right now, to give in to your body's desires? Or will you resist the desires of the flesh and do what will bring a blessing in the future? Are we going to just enjoy life today, or invest in the things of the kingdom?
Esau was a fool because he exchanged his birthright, his blessing, for a bowl of soup. Things of real, eternal value must never be sacrificed for the satiation of present urges. May we never be such fools!
One day, Esau the elder came in after a long day in the fields and he smelled a stew that Jacob was cooking. Being both famished and impatient, he had to have some of the stew. “Let me eat some of that red stuff because I’m exhausted," he said.
Jacob was a schemer, and he immediately laid his trap. If Esau wanted some food, he was going to have to give up his birthright - his status as the family's firstborn, the one who would inherit and become the family patriarch.
No way, you might think. Who would give up such a wonderful thing as his birthright for a simple pot of stew? No one would be that foolish, would they? Meet Esau. Without a thought to the consequences, he made the deal, gave up his birthright, and wolfed down the stew.
For a moment of fullness, he sacrificed his future. He prized present pleasure and forgot the future consequences of his choices. How soon after the stew settled in his stomach do you think he began to regret the deal? He gave away the future for a bowl of stew! What a fool.
Every day we make choices - life is choices. We must often choose between what we want and what is right, between present pleasure and future blessing. Often, that which is right and best is not that which provides the moment of pleasure. We must choose to forgo that moment for the glory, the blessing of God that lies ahead.
We have a birthright - those who have been born again by the grace of God. The Father is at work in us to conform us to Christ and to bless us with his presence. We are destined to be like Christ. That destiny is settled by God's grace. But often, on a daily basis, we sacrifice our heritage, our birthright, for a bowl of soup. We turn from what God is doing in our lives to enjoy a moment of what this world offers. Make no mistake about it - this world can never offer us more than a bowl of soup. And that bowl is never worth our birthright!
Most of the decisions we have to make are between what is right and what we want right now. Right, or right now. Between the blessing and the bowl of soup. Which is it going to be? When you are in a moment of temptation, are you going to do what you want to do right now, to give in to your body's desires? Or will you resist the desires of the flesh and do what will bring a blessing in the future? Are we going to just enjoy life today, or invest in the things of the kingdom?
Esau was a fool because he exchanged his birthright, his blessing, for a bowl of soup. Things of real, eternal value must never be sacrificed for the satiation of present urges. May we never be such fools!
Lord God, too often I have given over the blessings you hold for me to enjoy the flesh's stew right now. Forgive me of that sin, Lord. Empower me with wisdom to resist the stew and choose my birthright as a child of the Living God.
Consider God's Word:
Which of these four passages spoke most clearly to you today?
Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages?
Is there something in your life that needs to change?
Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to?
Are you keeping your mind and heart focused on the things that matter, or are you selling out your spiritual birthright for a bowl of worldly soup?
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