Genesis 25:27-34 As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home. Isaac’s favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob. One day Jacob was cooking stew when Esau arrived home exhausted from the hunt.
Esau: “Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!”….
Jacob: “All right, trade me your birthright for it”
Esau: “When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?”…
And Esau vowed, thereby selling all his eldest-son rights to his younger brother. Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew; so he ate and drank and went about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away. [Living Bible translation]
Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.” [New International translation]
Summary:
The history of the nation of Israel, from Abraham, to Isaac, to his sons, Jacob and Esau and to the generations that followed is a fascinating account. Each of these Biblical characters is instructive. There is the drama of family dynamics involving Isaac, his wife Rebekah and the two sons Jacob and Esau. There is the relationship between the brothers, who were twins. There are the individual personalities of Esau and Jacob--one a skillful hunter and the other a homebody. There are the decisions that were made. And the opportunities that were lost. Esau, who did not value his birthright and, in a “moment of weakness,” exchanged his inheritance rights for a bowl of stew, some bread, some peas and a drink. He did not realize until much later (and when it was too late) what he had done or what he had given up. Esau’s relationship to food, drink and his hunger for the wrong things changed his life forever.
Matthew 5:6 is one of the eight Beatitudes (i.e. Blessings) in JESUS’ sermon on the Mount. Each Beatitude is a proclamation, a blessing and promise. Instead of focusing on our physical needs, JESUS, reminds us of how important our spiritual nature is, because it is through “the spirit” that GOD interacts with us and we with HIM. JESUS is saying that if our spiritual nature were to hunger and thirst after righteousness the way our physical nature hungers and thirsts for food and drink, we would be blessed because we would be doing what is pleasing to GOD. Here JESUS is telling HIS listeners (and us) exactly what GOD considers to be important.
Esau’s story is a tale of physical hunger and poor spiritual insight. Matthew 5:6 discusses spiritual hunger and being about having a spiritual appetite for the right things.
Matthew 5:6 asks us to imagine craving justice or righteousness with the same hunger or intensity that some have for chocolate, sugar or deserts. Imagine if we spent as much time in prayer as we spend eating or drinking. Imagine if we were as meticulous about our prayer life as we are in preparing an important dinner. Imagine if all the people who shopped every week or who went to Peete’s or Starbuck’s were to go with the same regularity to a house of worship or paid their tithe as often as they purchased their weekly drink. Imagine if everyone awakened every morning thinking about GOD as much as they thought about food or drink during the day. Just imagine what it would be like to hunger and thirst for GOD…..
Don’t Shop When You are Hungry
There have been a number of studies that suggest that it is not wise to shop when you are hungry. In one study, researchers discovered that people who had not eaten all afternoon chose more high calorie foods in a simulated on- line market than those who were given a snack right before food shopping. In another study tracking real live super market shopping, researchers found that shoppers bought higher calorie foods during the hours leading up to dinner time than those shoppers who shopped earlier in the day.
When shoppers were hungry and also did not prepare a list, it was discovered that people tended to buy “all sorts of junk.” People who experience food insecurity (e.g. low income) or people who go hungry may be particularly drawn toward high-calorie junk type foods just because the body is trying to fulfill an immediate need.
In addition to not shopping when hungry when food shopping, it may be helpful to train yourself to follow some other simple instructions:
- Spend most of your time on the perimeter of the store where most of the fruits and vegetables are. Avoid the center aisles where the junk foods are located or the dessert areas.
- Designate a portion of your cart (e.g. the top portion of your cart) for fruits and vegetables. Put everything else on the lower racks. That way you make sure they won’t leave the market without a healthy supply of fruits and vegetable for the week. In a recent study reported on National Public Radio, it was found that shoppers who partitioned their carts designating certain sections for fruits and vegetables increased the likelihood of buying fruits and vegetables than those shoppers who did not. The larger the section partitioned for fruits and vegetables, the more people bought. When the section partitioned for fruits and vegetables was smaller, it decreased the amount people bought. The one exception to people buying more fruits and vegetables based on the partition space in the cart was when the shoppers were hungry. When people were hungry, everything broke down. When hungry, people just bought unhealthy food. See, “How Partitioning Grocery Carts Can Help Shoppers Buy Healthier Goods,” by Shankar Vedantam, May 26, 2015, www.npr.org.
- Avoid purchasing foods with more than five ingredients or that have ingredients that you cannot pronounce.
For further tips, see: “10 Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping,” by Katherine M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, reviewed by Louise Chang MD, www.webmd.com.
Examine What Makes You Hungry
Wednesday is a day for self-examination. It is a day to look at what makes us hungry. It is a day to hunger after the right things physically and spiritually. It is a day to reflect so we make the right decisions and not the wrong decisions, because like Esau, the decisions we make can have life altering effects.
Continue to pray one for another.
Continue to pray for our world. And, shop wisely.
Pray that we all hunger and thirst after righteousness and BE BLESSED!
