Though the phrase, "mess of pottage," does not actually occur in the Bible, it is commonly used to refer to the food that Esau obtained in exchange for his birthright. The story occurs in Genesis and is given as the fulfillment of their mother's prenatal prophesy regarding her twin sons that "the elder shall serve the younger" (Rom. 9:12):
"One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry.
"Esau said to Jacob, 'I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!'...
"'All right,' Jacob replied, 'but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.'
"'Look, I’m dying of starvation!' said Esau. 'What good is my birthright to me now?'
"But Jacob said, 'First you must swear that your birthright is mine.' So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew" (Gen. 25:29 – 34, NLT).
The value of the birthright, to be receive the blessings and inheritance of the firstborn, was actually of infinite worth compared to a bowl of food, but from Esau's perspective fulfilling the desires of the flesh was worth more to him in that moment. As Wikipedia summarizes: "A mess of pottage is something immediately attractive but of little value taken foolishly and carelessly in exchange for something more distant and perhaps less tangible but immensely more valuable."
In our day, the desires of the flesh are strong (emboldened by the world's encouragement to "be authentic" [read: undisciplined]), and the choice to trade our spiritual worth for a mess of pottage is set before us daily. This is most apparent through the deceitfulness of technology. The ability for the mind to imbibe the pleasures of the material world at a moment's notice (e.g., through social media, YouTube, pornography, etc.) nourishes the "natural man" and keeps humanity's higher virtues in constant suppression:
“Modern technology teaches man to take for granted the world he is looking at; he takes no time to retreat and reflect. Technology lures him on, dropping him into its wheels and movements. No rest, no meditation, no reflection, no conversation – the senses are continually overloaded with stimuli. [Man] doesn’t learn to question his world anymore; the screen offers him answers-ready-made” (Joost Meerloo, The Rape of the Mind [1956]).
The spirit of man must 'retreat and reflect' if it is to be prepared for the presence of God—it must rest, meditate, reflect, and converse on things of holiness to become holy. Some may argue that our modern constant exposure to technology stokes a person's imagination; but this is no virtue in itself and at worst it is a dangerous competitor in one's mind for revelation:
"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart!... How vain and trifling have been our spirits...too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world!" (Joseph Smith, STPJS, p. 137, emphasis added).
The devil knows that "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14, NKJV). For this reason he peddles his pottage through that which is at the fingertips of almost every human every day. He says, in effect:
"What has God done for you? What good is he to you now in this moment? What do you owe him? It is in vain. His promises to you are for nothing tangible, nothing real. I can give you something real. Something you can see and experience now in this very moment. The world is real and I can give you to see anything you desire in a matter of seconds. Give in to the natural man—eat, drink, watch, and be merry."
To him we must respond as the savior would, casting him out:
"This is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—he says: 'I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.'" (Isa. 45:18 – 19).
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