"For one morsel of food [Esau] sold his birthright" (Heb.12:16, NKJV).
There was once a man who loved old books. He met an acquiantance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations. 'I couldn't read it,' the friend explained. 'Somebody named Guten-something had printed it.'
The book-lover's jaw dropped in horror. 'Not Gutenberg! That Bible was one of the first books ever printed!! Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!!!'
But his friend was unimpressed. 'Nah, mine wouldn't have sold for a dollar. Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German.'
Funnily enough I had a similar experience a few years ago though alas I did not hit quite such a jackpot. I was rummaging around in a container and came across an ancient Swedish Family Bible that had obviously been thrown away by some relative clearing out the home of some old person who had just died (see picture above) and had no appreciation either for Yahweh's Word, family heirlooms, or old things. There are one or two pages missing from Genesis (sadly) and worms have eaten a bit of the leather binding but it dates from somewhere in the late 1700's and several of its owners have scribbled on the inside covers using quill pens. It's one of the oldest books in my 7,000+ volume collection.
We unfortunately throw away valuable things and treat them as worthless. Esau viewed his birthright in that manner and although he was a nice fellow who enjoyed hunting, fishing and the great outdoors, he was utterly unspiritual, and sold it to his younger more spiritual brother for a bowl of soup. Only when it was too late to undo his wretched bargain did Esau realise that he had "sacrificed the permanent on the altar of the immediate" [1].
I have known many people who have exchanged marriages and families for sudden infatuation or fancy, or abandoned the Besorah (Gospel) for worldly glory. They have thrown away the eternal for the temporary.
We had better be careful about the 'bargains' we make in life because our modern hedonistic culture places a high price tag on what is worthless and throws away as worthless what is of eternal value. And what you throw away in this life you can't regain in the eternities.
If you have wandered into the way of Esau, now is the time to repent and make right before it is too late. You never know when you might be called home.
Endnotes
[1] Haddon W. Robinson, What's Worth Keeping in Our Daily Bread (RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1994), Jun-Aug 1994, June 7.