Suggested Reading: Genesis 28:1-9
My wife and I were both big Full House fans growing up, so we naturally watched the Fuller House sequel series on Netflix. One of the ongoing story points throughout the first season dealt with Kimmie Gibler and her soon-to-be ex-husband. Fernando had cheated on Kimmie repeatedly and so she had kicked him out and asked for a divorce. Fernando was trying to win her back by being romantic and making grand gestures. And any of the things he did throughout the series probably would have been sweet. If it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to make up for repeated infidelities. He was trying to mix some good things in to all of the bad he had done (and was apparently still doing when the series began), hoping it would make everything alright. It took Fernando a long time of consistently being faithful to win back her trust.
In Genesis 28, Isaac and Rebecca decided to send their younger son, Jacob, off to find a wife from Rebecca's family. When they did so, their older son Esau finally realized that his parents didn't really like the multiple Canaanite wives he already had. So Esau came up with what he thought was a brilliant strategy to fix the problem. Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Genesis 28:9, NLT). Esau thought that adding another wife to his collection would solve the problem.
Esau seemed to have a very common misunderstanding. Esau thought that he could mix one good decision in with all of his bad decisions and everything would suddenly be ok. Now, we could talk about whether adding another wife to the mix was really a good decision but that, too, is kind of the point. When we think we can make one good decision to counteract all of our bad decisions, we simply are not employing good judgment.
How often do we try to place all of our hope on studying for one final test when we have blown off all the others? Or suddenly try to pay our bills first when we have wasted our money for months, hoping we can avoid getting something cut off or repossessed? Or try to make up for a consistently bad witness with a single act of kindness so we can share the gospel with someone?
I'm sure it didn't take Esau long to realize that his parents still weren't thrilled with the women he married and that adding one more wife didn't really fix the problem. Trying to mix a "good" decision in with a slew of bad ones doesn't make everything ok. The only remedy for a lot of bad decisions is consistently making good decisions. Mixing in one good decision amounts to nothing but a poor excuse to feel better about ourselves.
In Genesis 28, Isaac and Rebecca decided to send their younger son, Jacob, off to find a wife from Rebecca's family. When they did so, their older son Esau finally realized that his parents didn't really like the multiple Canaanite wives he already had. So Esau came up with what he thought was a brilliant strategy to fix the problem. Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Genesis 28:9, NLT). Esau thought that adding another wife to his collection would solve the problem.
Esau seemed to have a very common misunderstanding. Esau thought that he could mix one good decision in with all of his bad decisions and everything would suddenly be ok. Now, we could talk about whether adding another wife to the mix was really a good decision but that, too, is kind of the point. When we think we can make one good decision to counteract all of our bad decisions, we simply are not employing good judgment.
How often do we try to place all of our hope on studying for one final test when we have blown off all the others? Or suddenly try to pay our bills first when we have wasted our money for months, hoping we can avoid getting something cut off or repossessed? Or try to make up for a consistently bad witness with a single act of kindness so we can share the gospel with someone?
I'm sure it didn't take Esau long to realize that his parents still weren't thrilled with the women he married and that adding one more wife didn't really fix the problem. Trying to mix a "good" decision in with a slew of bad ones doesn't make everything ok. The only remedy for a lot of bad decisions is consistently making good decisions. Mixing in one good decision amounts to nothing but a poor excuse to feel better about ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment