Isaac, Esau, and Jacob
After reading the story of the birthright and the blessing, I’ve been struck by the weight of words in that time. All it takes for something to be passed on is words, no written out contracts necessary. The words that they spoke were final. Even Jacob’s lies had permanence to them; though they may not have been true, they really meant something and changed the course of life that was expected by everyone in that family. It seems that today, words don’t mean much. We kind of go along saying the first thing that pops into our brains without regards to the way that our poorly constructed and thought out sentences could affect somebody. Seems like our words are more for our pleasure and self-indulgence than for communication. I wonder what life would be like if the substance of our words today had as much weight as they did in biblical times. What if we were held accountable to every promise made, every lie told, every insult said and every word preached in some visible, tangible way? What if there was no flippancy in my words, that it was all consequential? How would I live then? What words would I speak?
