Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac. – Genesis 28:8

Today's Scripture Reading (August 26, 2021): Genesis 28

"What you have accomplished in the past is a much stronger example than talking about what you are capable of doing in the future. Actions do speak louder than words!" The words belong to Catherine Pulsifer, and she is right. What we have done in the past is a good indication of what we will do in the future unless we are willing to join the battle against the actions we have previously taken. We can talk about what we want to do or what we believe, but what we do is the true measure of who we are.

It is also the accurate measure of our faith and what we believe. Do you want to be a person of faith? Then how is your faith reflected in your behavior? Faith is not found in our rituals, but our lack of faith is sometimes found in what pulls us away from those rituals. If faith is not reflected in what we do in our daily lives, then we are not a people of faith. We may speak like we are people of faith, but the reality that is reflected by what we do tells a very different story.

It seems unlikely that Isaac never spoke to his sons about the things that were important to him. And one of the things Isaac held at the core of his being was his faith and his fear that if his sons married the local women, that they would pull them away from that faith. Abraham had made sure that Isaac had a wife who shared the family values. Isaac wanted the same thing for both of his sons, Esau and Jacob. But it appears that Esau decided to marry young, or at least at a younger age than his twin brother Jacob. Before Jacob had married his first wife, Esau was already married to more than one wife.

But as Jacob gains the blessing from his father, Isaac renews his instruction to his unmarried son; don't marry the local woman. Go home to the place of your grandfather's relatives and marry someone from there, someone who will share at least some of the family's core values. And as Jacob receives the instructions, he leaves to go and find a wife from among his great-grandfather's family.

It is at this moment that Esau is finally convicted of his error. At some point in the past, it is likely that Esau solemnly nodded his head as his father gave him his instructions regarding marriage. But the instructions never penetrated into a place where Esau understood and believed what it was that his father had taught. He had promised his father that he would get a wife from the extended family of Abraham, but those were just the words of his mouth. Esau's actions showed that he had never internalized his father's lesson. It is not until he sees his brother's actions that Esau begins to take to heart the words of his father, Isaac.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 29