03/13/2024 – How to Respond to God’s Call
Genesis 25: 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
Today I want us to look at the proper response to the call of God in our lives for two reasons, one is that we save ourselves the pain that comes from our rebellion, but also that we trust in the power of His call.
- The First Effect of the Call – We Value the Blessing of God more than Anything Else
We throw the term around- “I am blessed”. We even use it politely every time someone sneezes. But the terms carry more weight than we realize. God’s call is His invitation to His blessing, and His blessing is the assurance of complete and everlasting joy.
But those who hear the call of God understand what it is to be blessed, and understand that blessing ONLY comes from our submission to the call of God. This is why the disciples left everything and followed Jesus, and this is the first lesson we need to learn: His blessing is the greatest most amazing thing that could happen to us and we can only get it through our submission to His call. We cannot buy it, we cannot create it, we cannot wish it into our lives. Jacob certainly understood the value of the blessing, in contrast to his twin brother Esau, who honestly could not care less about God’s blessing. He wanted to have fun and be happy, he wanted the honor and the glory- everyone wants that…but he did not value God’s blessing.
- Trust in the Mercy of God!
You can only truly value the blessing when you realize you do not deserve it…when you see the mercy of God in the blessing. This was the problem with Esau. When you think you deserve to be blessed, you ruin the blessing. It only serves to inflate your pride. This is one of the reasons God has to make you humble first…this is why you see God choosing the poor and weak…