Genesis 25:19-34

"'All right,' Jacob replied, 'but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.'
'Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?'” v31-32
Have you ever been caught in the moment? Meaning you do something that you never intended to do, but at the time you just did it?

Esau traded the lasting benefits of his birth right fo the immediate pleasure of food. Now a birthright was a special honor given to the firstborn son. It included a double portion of the family inheritance along with the honor of one day becoming the family's leader. The oldest son could sell his birthright or give it away if he chose, but in doing, he would lose both material goods and his leadership position. By trading his birthright, Esau showed complete disregard for the spiritual blessings that would have come his way if he had kept it. By exaggerating his hunger. "I'm dying of starvation!" he said. This thought made his choice much easier because if he was starving, what good was an inheritance anyway? The pressure of the moment distorted his perspective and made his decision seem urgent. We often experience similar pressures. For example, when we feel sexual pressure, a marriage vow may seem unimportant. We might feel such great pressure in one area that nothing else seems to matter and we lose our perspective. Getting through that short, pressure filled moment is often the most difficult part of overcoming a temptation.

We can easily fall into the same trap. When we see something we want, our first impulse is to have it, or get it. At first we feel intensely satisfied and sometimes even powerful because we have obtained what we set out to get. But immediate pleasure often losses sight of the future. We can avoid making Esau's mistake by comparing the short-term satisfaction with its long-range consequences before we act.

Taken from the NLT Life Application Study Bible