Lust: Wanting What We Want

I was surprised this month that Elaine chose to discuss lust instead of love. I mean after all, it is February, the time of year when all things love is in the air. However, as I began to study lust and looked for stories in the Bible that discussed the topic, I began to understand why she would want to discuss it in the same month that we typically talk about love.

They both are described as intense feelings. Both have the ability to take over, consume us, and leave us doing crazy things. And they can be mistaken one for the other.

Typically when we hear the word lust, we think of it from the perspective of sexual desire. I believe that it can also be for things, positions, and status with the effects being just as lasting and just as damaging as giving in to sexual sin. The truth is that lust can cause us to self-indulge and can consume our thoughts, which ultimately impacts our feelings, which impacts our behavior.

Today, we are going to explore the story of Jacob and Esau and how Jacob’s lust for his father’s blessing and the first-born birthright, passed down from his grandfather Abraham, impacted not only he and his twin brother’s lives, but how this intense longing impacted the nations that were to arise out of them as well.

We all know the story of Jacob and Esau. They were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah. Scripture tells us that Esau was born first and then Jacob was born holding Esau’s heel (this was an important indication of their lives and destiny). We also know that Isaac favored Esau (this is another story for another day), and that Rebekah favored Jacob, so much so that she helped him deceive his father for the first-born blessing and birthright.

Genesis 25 begins to give an account of their story. As the oldest, Esau held a position of respect, honor, and authority because he was born into the lineage of Abraham. Per tradition, he was also to receive the greater blessing, which consisted of a double portion of all Isaac had, in order to preserve the family lineage. This greater blessing represented the covenant blessing the Lord had made with Abraham, who passed it down to his son Isaac, who traditionally would have passed it down to Esau. But Jacob wanted this blessing and birthright so badly that he tricked his brother, and then his father, into giving these gifts to him by offering each of them a bowl of stew.

I believe that Jacob had an intense longing for Esau’s position and birthright for a very long time and when he had the opportunity to take it, he concocted and executed a plan to do so without hesitation. Can you believe the level of impact that two bowls of soup had first on a family and then on the nations we read about in the Bible?

Jacob’s story is no different from the stories of our lives today. When we trade what God has already provided for us (even when it hasn’t manifested in the natural realm) for the things that we have an intense longing for, things that are not His will or are outside of His timing for us, we too impact the nations that we are assigned to. This exchange negatively affects our daily lives and causes us to suffer in ways that He never intended for us to experience.

The Bible goes on to tell us that when Esau learn of the totality of what Jacob had done, he wept. Jacob then had to run away to escape Esau’s anger and threats to kill him. What kind of life is that? Because of his deceitfulness, Jacob had to give up everything he loved and go to an unfamiliar place to live.

Jacob’s actions had consequences and so do ours. We don’t always get to choose the consequences or even know what they are ahead of time so that we can make an informed decision. But we do have to live with them.

Jacob, whose very name meant deceiver (until He wrestled with an angel of the Lord and it was changed to Israel) was later deceived by his father-in-law, Laban, for what seemed like forever. This teaches us that we reap what we sow and that often we are unaware in the moment that reaping is actually taking place. This can leave us feeling as if God has removed Himself from our circumstances and turned away from us (which He never does). Even after Jacob got what he wanted, his life was full of sadness and depression. The great news, however, is that even with all the chaos, deception, and turmoil he experienced, mostly at his own hands, God never took His hand off Jacob’s life. He was always watching over him and He was always for him. As so it is for us!

This story made me think of the many times I wanted something that I didn’t need, or that wasn’t good for me, or I wanted at the wrong time. It also made me think about my intense longings that have often taken my affection and attention off God and His love for me. If you find yourself in the same situation, don’t fret…there is hope!

Jacob and Esau’s story is packed with so many nuggets that I want to share some of them with you:

1. God already has your life planned out. He has made it His business to do so. Jeremiah 1:5
2. The life He has planned out for you is good. Jeremiah 8:28 reminds us of that.
3. He will get you where you need to go when you need to be there. His timing is perfect. Psalm 31:15
4. He makes every crooked path straight. He clears the way for you. Isaiah 45:2
5. He is the only God who restores and reconciles. Isaiah 61:7, 1 Peter 5:10, Genesis 3:4

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your grace and mercy. Thank you for Your perfect love that covers a multitude of sins. Thank you that even in the middle of my intense longings and desires to have things that take my attention away from You, the One who loves me the most, You never leave me, nor do You withdraw Your love from me. Forgive me for wanting things or my way more than You and for pursuing those things more than I pursue You. Forgive me for seeking Your hand more than Your face and heart. Thank you that no good or perfect thing will You withhold from me and for the good gifts that You give. Thank you for causing all things to work together for my good, even when I don’t see it. Today, help me to embrace Your love for me in a new and fresh way while understanding that it is unconditional. Thank you that You give me the ability to do the hard things, to make good decisions, and to remember who I am in You. Help me to respond to Your love by receiving it and giving it first to myself and then to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.