Was the Bowl of Red Stew Worth It?

 “One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”) “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?””
Genesis 25:29-32 NLT

I love this story. It describes us perfectly with our food issues. Esau was willing to sell his rights as a first born for a bowl of red stew. We are shocked that he would make such a terrible trade. But we do this often

We all desire to eat in a way that brings God's glory. We have all made promises to ourselves to not put certain food before our health this year. But all it takes is a "bowl of that red stew." We make up reasons why it's okay to load our plate with chips or cookies or whatever. It seems insignificant at the time. It seemed insignificant to Esau. All he knew was that his hunger was satisfied. 

The point of this post is not that certain foods are bad. But I think we all realize that by sacrificing our health for a piece of cheesecake is a poor trade. Next time that bowl of red stew is tempting us, think about what we are trading and make sure that food is worth it.