I didn’t actually get to see or taste it, but I sure heard about it. A program provided for the youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as “the Mormons”) is seminary, and the early morning seminary teacher had made a of pottage to share with her class while teaching them the story of Jacob and Esau. (An early morning seminary class meets every morning before school.)

Esau, if you remember from the story in the Bible, was the firstborn of the twins and legally owned the birthright. The birthright son received a double inheritance, and it was also his responsibility to preside over and care for the family in the absence of the father. But one day Esau came in from a tough day of labor in the fields, and he was understandably tired and hungry. He saw that Jacob had some pottage, and he asked him for it.

The exchange that followed is well-known to Bible readers everywhere:

31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25: 31-34)

Pottage, according to one source, is a stew made with vegetables and perhaps meat. Another source explains that it was grain ground into a paste. Perhaps these definitions can give us a clue of what the dish must have been like. This particular teacher chose to make her pottage from lentils, similar to what is indicated in the Biblical text.

I can only imagine the reactions she must have received from her class as she brought out the pottage. Picture about twelve teenagers in a room together at about 6:15 in the morning and you might be able to imagine their reactions as well.

I only found out about it at our church’s youth activities that evening. One of the students who had been there asked me if he could use my keys to get into the church kitchen. As I looked for the correct key, I asked him what he wanted in there.

“Pottage,” he said. When I looked at him funny, he explained the class they’d had that morning. “The teacher left it in the fridge for me. No one else wanted it.”

Having taught the early morning seminary class myself last year, I knew this student. And while I knew and respected him as a great guy, I also knew of his affinity for strange foods that other people might not enjoy.

The pottage must have made the desired impression on the other students, though. If it was so unappetizing that none of the students wanted to eat it (well, except for this one guy), how vividly the lesson must have hit home that Esau had made a big mistake in selling his birthright for…pottage.

We can be sure that Esau wasn’t really about to starve to death. He was probably very tired and hungry, but he would have been all right for a while longer. Instead, he sacrificed something very important – his birthright – for something that satisfied a momentary desire. (Something, as these seminary students learned, that wasn’t even particularly appetizing.) And we can be sure that Esau was hungry again before too long. All his birthright bought him was a few hours of satiety.

How often do we sacrifice things that are most important to us in order to satisfy lesser needs or desires? Sometimes we sacrifice our integrity in order to gain an advantage over someone. Sometimes we sacrifice the teaching of correct behavior to a child in order to have the “privilege” of losing our temper and getting what we want more quickly. We gain the smaller things that we want, only to discover in the end that we have lost so much more than we have gained.

The Savior Himself made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He atoned for our sins and gave His life for us – something that would not even benefit Him personally. But He sacrificed His own carnal desires for something greater. It is His example we must all strive to follow.