Recap: In this series we're discovering how finding our true self in Jesus can save us from the greatest obstacle standing in our way - our self! Too often we filter our lives, we live with discontent, we compare and it leads to the immediate seeming urgent. We can end up giving up what we want most for what we want now. In the book of Genesis we find the story of twins, Jacob and Esau and this exact scenario plays out as Esau trades his birthright (a big deal) for a bowl of stew. The immediate seemed urgent and he makes a really bad trade. We can easily do the same thing, trading what we want now for what we want most. Don't make that bad trade. God has given those that follow Him an inheritance, a birthright. Don't trade it for a bowl of beans.

(1) What do you like most or least about social media?

(2) What part of your life would you like to "edit" or "crop"?

(3) "God IS for you, it's just not ABOUT you". What do you think this means?

(4) Read Genesis 25:24-34. How did the immediate become the urgent? Esau traded what he wanted most for what he wanted now. It was a bad trade. Where are you tempted to do that?

(5) Ephesians 1 says we have a birthright/an inheritance if we're following Jesus. Read Ephesians 1:3-14. What strikes you most about this inheritance? What are you most grateful for?

(6) What's the "bowl of beans" you've been eyeing? The trade you've been thinking about making? Don't do it!

God, help me not to trade a bowl of beans for my birthright, for my best life. I so easily can compare and end up making a bad trade by giving up what I really want most for what I think I need now. Help me to identify what those things are and run from them. Help me to find my true self in you. I need your help. Amen.