Who Are You?
(8 minutes)
One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.”
“Yes, Father?” Esau replied.
“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die. Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.”
But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau, ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.”
“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”
But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!” (Genesis 27:1-13)
Jacob learned something this day that would affect him long after this moment: you have to dress up and pretend to be someone else in order to get the blessing of your father.
So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it. Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread.
So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said.
“Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?” (Genesis 27:14-18)
"This moment in Jacob's life is going to affect every decision he makes for the rest of his life. We don't realize how significant a moment is. We don't realize how significant someone saying an off-handed comment to us is. We don't realize how significant it is when a mom or a dad makes decisions, not for their kids, but for themselves. We don't know how significant other people's appetites are to us. Rebekah's going to teach her tender-hearted son how to play dress up when he gets into certain situations. Rebekah's going to teach Jacob that who he really is is not good enough in big moments. This moment in Jacob's life is going to shape the rest of his life. He will be on the run from this mistake for a good portion of his life. And I hear his father asking him, 'Who are you?'" (Pastor Tim)
What seems like a trivial question from Jacob's father is really the most important question that could be asked and it's coming straight from the Spirit of God - "Who are you - Esau or Jacob?"
Who are you?
Is this the real you or is this the pretender, the impostor? Is this the wild, authentic you that you were designed to be, or are you dressing up like someone else? Who are you?
All of us have probably lived through a moment like this, where we were told in one way or another that the real us wasn't good enough and didn't measure up. It was a moment when we started carrying what someone else put on us instead of what we were designed to carry. It was the moment that took our tender heart and taught it how to be hard and calloused. Up until this moment we were free to be who Abba created us to be, but after this moment we were caged and shut off from enjoying our original identity.
How long have you been making decisions based off of the impostor? How long have you been choosing this over that, all because that is what the "dressed up" version of you would do? How long have you pushed aside things that you were originally passionate about just so you could try to find the acceptance that you already had in Abba? "And the whole time, the world has lost the most important thing that God has made...you." (Pastor Tim)
Would you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal this moment to you? This isn't so you can meditate on the problem. The Holy Spirit will reveal where the lie came into your heart, and then you have to let Abba take you even further into the truth about who you really are. Abba wants to restore you to the wild, authentic, tender-hearted, passionate you that you were before you started dressing up like someone else.
Hear Abba's voice today asking, "Beloved son, beloved daughter, who are you?"
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Worship: "Real Thing" by Maverick City Music
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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