Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then his father Isaac answered him:
‘See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you break loose,
you shall break his yoke from your neck.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, September 22, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
At least there is some small promise for Esau here. After trading away his birthright for lentil stew and then having his younger brother outright cheat him out of their father’s blessing, Esau is rightfully distraught, and his father, Isaac, along with him—Esau was Isaac’s favorite after all, and I’m sure Isaac felt utterly betrayed by his younger son’s deception. For whatever reason, Isaac could not “take it back” from Jacob. So he offers Esau a kind of sloppy seconds. “Yes,” he says, “Jacob outsmarted us both and clearly he will rule over you. But there will come a time when you will break loose and be free of Jacob’s domination.” I’m not sure when this is meant to be. Esau will later become the nation of Edom, while Jacob becomes Israel, and the two weren’t particularly friendly to one another.
As I read this today, I am mindful of the ways in which I have allowed others to dictate my sense of well-being in the past, and the ways I have come to accept what is good about what I have in the moment. I don’t always get everything I want the way I want it. And sometimes that’s honestly the best thing for me. God knows what I need far better than I do, and when I stop to be grateful about what I have… well, that’s the biggest blessing I could ask for.
How has God blessed me in ways I didn’t necessarily plan for myself?
