Hebrews 12:16-17 “lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (17) For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
I mentioned earlier that it is not wise for saints to approach their day of judgement by just “hoping for the best”, and yet sadly most believers approach their day of judgement with that exact attitude. Their viewpoint is, “Well I’ll just hope for the best, and if I am rewarded, great! But if I miss out on my rewards then that’s okay, because at least I know I’m saved”. I want you to think about that attitude for a moment. We are talking about our eternal destiny, because the outcome of this judgement will decide just how we are to spend the rest of eternity in the kingdom of God. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit gives us the account of Esau and his earthly inheritance. If you read the account in the Old Testament you will see that Esau sold his birth right to his younger brother Jacob. When Esau sold his birth right all he was concerned about was his immediate needs. His future inheritance was the furthest thing from his mind. He was hungry, and when given the choice to give up his birth right in order to satisfy his immediate needs, he chose his immediate needs over his future inheritance. His actions had disastrous consequences, because years later when the time came for him to inherit the blessing he was rejected. The scripture reveals to us that even though he diligently sought with tears to find a way to inherit the blessing it was too late. Don’t forget that Esau was Isaac’s favourite son. And so I’m sure that when Esau made his choice he must have had the following thought, “I’m sure it will all turn out alright, because after all I am my Father’s favourite son”. But when the time came Isaac’s hands were tied, and even though Esau was his favourite son, God held Esau accountable for his decision and he could not receive the blessing. Esau’s actions were an admonishment to us today of how we should view our eternal inheritance. Many believers today concentrate only on this life and give no thought for their eternal inheritance. Their view is that Jesus loves them and He will take care of their inheritance for them, but what they fail to realise that Jesus can only reward us for that which we have done according to our Father’s will on that day.
Luke 19:20-26 “Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. (21) For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ (22) and he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. (23) Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' (24) "And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' (25) (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.') (26) 'For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Sadly some believers will find out on their day of judgement, that because they allowed themselves to become distracted by the affairs of this life, that they would have failed to fulfil the Father’s will for their lives. And so as with Esau, they will find out on that day that it will be too late for them to remedy the situation and their inheritance will be lost for all eternity. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord taught us this parable to clearly illustrates this point to us, which is that some saints will have no inheritance on that day, simply because they became distracted by the affairs of this life and chose not to do the will of the Father.
Michael E.B. Maher
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