Lest there be any. . . profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb. 12:16.

The Bible story of the two brothers, Esau and Jacob, often elicits our sympathy for Esau who was cheated out of his birthright by his brother. But there was a fatal weakness in Esau's character. He dismissed the importance of the birthright with insensibility and scorn. The birthright brought with it certain moral and spiritual responsibilities on which the home was founded.

The family heritage went back to God's call to Abraham. When he and Lot were confronted with a choice, Abraham had decided for eternal values, looking "for a city whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10). Lot had chosen temporal, material wealth. Esau followed in Lot's footsteps, and is referred to in the Bible as a profane person.

The New English Bible translates the word "profane" to mean "a worldly-minded person." It has no reference to one's use of language. Esau was wholly secular in his philosophy of life and outlook. The manner in which the secular man treats God's gift of life and salvation reveals a serious defect in character. The secular life is not necessarily wicked. The secular man relates his meaning of life to things. In actuality he says to God, "1 have heard of You, learned of You, but You have no meaning and value for the kind of life I want to live."

There is nothing more disturbing than this despising of one's spiritual birthright. It creates blindness of mind and has fatal consequences. So long as we are secular we cannot respond to what is divine and spiritual.

All of us are familiar with the expression "the handwriting on the wall." It refers to a young man, Belshazzar, who already at his age had sacrificed eternal values and passed the point of no return.

Only those who have been born again by the Spirit see clearly and steadily eternal values. We experience them as the true life. This is our birthright because of what we are in Christ.