Genesis 25:29-34
“Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew!  I’m famished!…Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’  ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said.  ‘What good is the birthright to me?’  But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’  So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  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.”

Matthew 26:20-23, 25
“When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.  And while they were eating, he said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.’  They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’  Jesus replied, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.’…Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’  Jesus answered, ‘Yes, it is you.’”

Philippians 3:18-20
“For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Lord of all, you provide our daily bread and nourish us in our spiritual hunger.

You are our priceless inheritance and the joy of our lives.  We desire your presence at our table more than the world’s feast for the senses.

Turn our eyes from the pot and the payment to the Lamb who gives true life.  Do not let us sacrifice the privilege of your blessing for a taste from a tainted bowl.

This we ask in the name of Christ, who surrendered his heavenly birthright not for his own sake, but in love to pay our ransom.

Listen to ‘Christ for Us’ by Shelby Murphy and Redemption Hill Church