GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Thursday, September 2

Genesis 26:30-41

Esau’s return showed up Jacob’s fraud—but too late. You may ask, “Why not just take back the blessing, or say it again to Esau?“ Isaac’s world saw words as potent, not trivial (unlike ours, which says, “They’re just words”). Often we can’t just say, “I didn’t mean it” and undo the harm words cause. Esau’s words at the end were angry and ominous.

Isaac and Jacob’s culture may have been a little “over the top” on the permanent nature of words. We, on the other hand, are probably too casual about that (see James 3:2-11). When have you wished you could take back words that were irretrievably gone? When have “just words” uplifted and blessed you?

Only late in the story does Esau show any interest in or appreciation for the blessing and birthright that might have been his. How might his life have been different if he had valued them from the start? Now he became angry and bitter. What healthier, more healing ways have you found to deal with your regrets and hurts?