Despising birthrights

Genesis 25:27-34 NASB

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.  Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.  When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;  and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.  But Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright."  Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what  use  then is the birthright to me?"  And Jacob said, "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

My thoughts -

Sometimes I read about Jacob and Esau and I feel like Jacob did Esau dirty. He took his brother, who was hungry, and refused to feed him until Esau agreed to sell him his birthright. Esau, in this way of thinking it would seem, was in a vulnerable position and was exploited by his rather clever brother.

But this interpretation of these events ignores Esau's actions. Was Esau starving? Really? Was he about to die. Or did he, like my sons too often do, just come in a look to see what was in the fridge, just because.

Sure he thought he was hungry. And maybe he was. But when Esau says "I'm starving" to me at least it rings as empty as my sons' pleas. He's not starving. He just wants what his brother has. Sure, he could be hungry. But this is not a matter of life and death.

This is how Esau despised his birthright. He had something far more valuable than a meal and yet, in his temporary discomfort, how sold low on it for temporary satisfaction. He traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. He sold his inheritance for a meal.

Do we do the same thing? Do we take what is promised to us by God, the things of heaven, and trade them in for temporary satisfaction on earth? Do we forsake God's ways and despise our birthright as children of God and trade it in on what is fleeting here?

Do we act like bored teenaged boys staring at the fridge hoping for leftover pizza to appear, trusting in the fleeting things of this world rather than in the eternal hope we have in the Lord?