Life

Have you ever been hungry?

Have you ever felt intense hunger?

You have an idea what hunger feels like?

You know that kinda hunger that makes you wish you could literally turn stone to bread?

Exactly!
That's the kinda hunger I'm talking about.
That very one that shuts your faculty and blocks your senses.
That very one that makes you reach for your mind and all you get is "Error 404, not found."

You know, I been thinking about Esau and for a second, I think Sunday school and Bible study has painted him in a very bad light as a greedy person.

But you see, it is easy to sit on a safe and privileged part of the fence and judge people for the choices they make or did not make.

Maybe if you placed yourself in Esau's sandals ('cause they ain't gat no shoes in that era) and walked a few steps in it you'd know how unfairly he's been judged.

There's something hunger does to the soul. It numbs the mind and inactivates the spirit. You even doubt the presence of that thing between your ears in times of intense hunger.

Right now, I'm not even talking about hunger for food alone.

You know when you're hungry for success in a particular endeavor, you know how you act all crazy and people think you're losing your mind (and you actually lose a part of your mind) just because you want to satisfy that hunger?

You know the lengths you're willing to go to satisfy your hunger for power, fame and wealth even when it involves sacrificing the very things that mean the most to you?
You wonder why people kill and make human sacrifices just because they need power and need to remain in power?

You think they made the decisions?
You think they actually think about it?
You think they think and care about repercussions and er... Consequences of their actions? Hell to the no! They're more engrossed with satisfying said hunger.

Maybe you can't relate with that.
Let me try this.
There's a time you once hungered and thirsted for (the presence of) God, you remember when you felt so thirsty and hungry for God and you didn't care about all it took to satisfy that hunger?
You know the things you did right?
Did you think about them?
Did you watch the clock to know how time flew?

Great!

That's what I'm talking about.
There are levels to hunger and there are lengths to which people are willing to go to really satisfy that hunger.

Esau needed food.
Bloke was hungry, which was expected of a human who's been out all day.
His mental battery was remaining 1%.

He had only 1% to make a SOS call to 911. What would you have him do?
Start negotiating with 1% battery?

Y'all are quick to say hunger hasn't killed anybody but makes people strong.
Go ask those kids that eat from the bin, go ask those kids whose images the white nations use to represent Africa.
Go ask people who have had to watch their kids and loved ones die from hunger and starvation just because...

Back to Esau.
He made that distress call to Jacob emergency services and ordinarily, it is meant to be a free service.
1% battery and Jacob, the GMD of the outlet requests for something in return, his birthright.

A dying person is calling for help with his last strength and the helper is asking for something in return.
Something that the dying person can give.
Something that is only useful to the dying person when he is alive.

What would you do?

So, Jacob requests for Esau's birthright and Esau, with his 0.99% mental capacity figures that his birthright is useful to him as long as he lives.
He trades it in exchange for that thing that would satisfy his hunger, boost his battery to 100% and keep him alive for a long time.

You think I'm over thinking this thing?
There's a chance I am.
But there's another chance that I'm not.

If Esau didn't trade the birthright and Jacob didn't give him the food for free (just because he is who he is), Esau would have probably starved to death and Jacob would have still had the birthright.

You know.

So what's my point?
Y'all cut Esau some slack and talk about Jacob who is the greedy and selfish one.

You can talk about self-control later but remember that sooner or later, you'll have to make a choice or someone makes it for you.
Again, don't forget there's always a price to pay for actions or inactions.

Hunger (for food or other things) is a normal thing in life and as long as you live, you will experience some form of hunger.
And as usual, there will always be people like Jacob who will be waiting to rip off something of value from you before they grant you access to what will satisfy your hunger.

So my point is this, until you've had to make a choice between satisfying your hunger/thirst and dying (not literally though), you ain't got no license to judge Esau or call him greedy or blame him for selling his birthright to save his life.

You understand?