so I have been reading genesis lately.. and you know I always wonder what makes God choose one person and not another... so I am reading about Esau... and one of the first things it says about him as a grown man is that when he was 40 he marries 2 hittite women which made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah... then you remember... even before that he sold his firstborn birthrights for a bowl of lentil stew and some bread... now we may not really know what that meant.. so I go looking it up in the study bible... and the firstborn rights in the Israelite nation is a double portion of the family's wealth or blessing.. it is also a double portion of the covenant between God and Abraham passed down to that firstborn son.. (the firstborn always belongs to God) it turns out that this is WHY Jacob's sons are the ones that were the tribes of Israel... because Esau... (per the study bible) was not really concerned about the covenant with God or about relationship with Him... when he gave up his birthright.. he gave up his rights to the Abrahamic covenant of blessing over all of his descendants.. then he married the pagan women.. even further showing that he did not care for God's laws or His will...

I also read.. going back to their birth.. God said from the beginning that Esau would serve his brother... so really... being obedient to what God said... Isaac should have been blessing Jacob... and Esau really got what God had planned for him from the beginning.. even though we have all determined that Jacob took it from him... really.. it was given to him by God.. so he was going to get it no matter what...

but I wonder.. about us.. in this day and age... how often do our choices prove to God that we are or we are not all that interested in what He wants for us.. in His covenant with us.. His plan for our lives... I will say in all honesty.. that up until the last few years.. I did not want any parts of God's will for me.. I wanted all the blessing and all the relationship.. but none of the work that comes from being in relationship with Someone... so I did what I wanted.. and expected God to go along with it and bless me for it.. and CLEARLY He was not about that.... although He never left me.. and He continued to protect me.. He also let me fall on my face... REPEATEDLY...

so at this point... are we Esau.. or will we be Jacob... will we do whatever it takes in order to have all that God has planned for us... will we be obedient and submit to Him....

this is truth throughout the bible.. why was David chosen over the older brothers.. when that was not God's usual way... David was chosen because of his relationship with God... this is the only way that any of us will be chosen... is by our relationship and commitment to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob... and me... and I pray... you too...
(genesis 25-27 NLT study bible)