一碗红豆汤
随着年龄的增长，雅各的生活开始和哥哥以扫截然不同。雅各和以扫不仅有着不同的爱好和性格，而且他们父母的偏心很可能加剧了他们的兄弟相争。在雅各的内心深处，可能经常会想起神给利百加的话——预言说“将来大的要服侍小的。”（创 25:23）
你是否曾经因为觉得自己没有得到应得的东西而沮丧？雅各知道神要祝福他，他就采取行动使自己得祝福。而以扫对汤的渴望扑灭了他的常识，就出卖了自己的长子名份。
或许我们像雅各一样，常常将神的祝福看作我们应该拥有的——甚至是赢得的——我们认为自己需要做些交易或讨价还价来抓住它或保住它。然而，从神而来的祝福是我们不配得的礼物。除了基督在十字架上流出的宝血，没有任何东西能买到它。然而，正如雅各的故事将要显明的，我们可能需要一生的时间，才能放下我们与神的工作搏斗的倾向，接受神爱的礼物。
让我们祈求神的灵帮助我们，今天就开始学习这一功课。
满有恩典的神，我们常常想自己去抓住你乐意赐给我们的礼物。请帮助我们今天来仰望基督，祂已经为你给我们的祝福付上了代价。阿们。
创世记 25:27-34
27两个孩子渐渐长大，以扫善于打猎，常在田野，雅各为人安静，常住在帐篷里。
28以撒爱以扫，因为常吃他的野味，利百加却爱雅各。
29有一天，雅各熬汤，以扫从田野回来累昏了。
30以扫对雅各说：“我累昏了，求你把这红汤给我喝。”因此以扫又叫以东。
31雅各说：“你今日把长子的名分卖给我吧。”
32以扫说：“我将要死，这长子的名分于我有什么益处呢？”
33雅各说：“你今日对我起誓吧。”以扫就对他起了誓，把长子的名分卖给雅各。
34于是雅各将饼和红豆汤给了以扫，以扫吃了喝了，便起来走了。这就是以扫轻看了他长子的名分。
A Pot Of Soup
"Jacob replied, 'First sell me your birthright.'" - Genesis 25:31
As Jacob grew up, his life began to take a very different course from that of his brother, Esau. Not only did Jacob and Esau have different interests and personalities, but their parents' favoritism likely fueled their sibling rivalry. And in the back of Jacob's mind, there was probably often a reminder of God's response to Rebekah—a prophecy saying that "the older [brother] will serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23).
Have you ever been frustrated by the feeling that you were not getting what you deserved? Knowing that God intended to bless him, Jacob took steps to secure that blessing for himself. And Esau, whose hunger for soup overruled his common sense, cooperated by selling his birthright.
Perhaps like Jacob, we often see God's blessing as something we should have—or maybe even deserve—and we think we need to seize it or secure it by making some kind of deal or bargain. But blessings from God are an undeserved gift. They cannot be purchased for any price other than the blood Christ gave for us on the cross. Yet as Jacob's story will show us, it can take a lifetime to set aside our human tendency to struggle against the work of God and to receive his love as a gift.
Pray that God's Spirit will begin to help you learn that lesson today.
Gracious God, we often try to seize for ourselves what you delight to offer as a gift. Help us to look today to Christ, who has already paid the price of your blessing for us. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
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