Yesterday I shared just a few thoughts about the current version of “men” purveyed by popular “culture.”  It is my firm belief that only man’s Creator has the right to define what makes “a man.”  Yesterday I encouraged men to learn how to cook, if they do not already know.  Do you know the Bible’s most famous male chef?[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=chef&iid=5097805″ src=”3/4/a/b/Man_in_apron_a8fe.jpg?adImageId=10120446&imageId=5097805″ width=”234″ height=”352″ /]

“And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born. As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 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!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”) “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. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.” (Genesis 25:24-34, NLT)

For those unfamiliar with the rest of the story, Jacob turned out to be quite a messed up fellow.  In spite of his myriad of failings, God still chose him to be a man through which he would work out his redemption plan.  God passed over Esau, the “man’s man.” Esau’s descendents actually became enemies to the descendents of his brother. 

God sustained Jacob, he wrestled with Jacob, he redeemed Jacob from his own foolish and destructive behavior.  Jacob’s personality, his lack of “outdoorsmen” ability, even the fact he was described as a “momma’s boy” did not dissuade God.  God called Jacob to be a man who obeyed and followed him.  God loved a chosen man who could really cook. It would be worth the effort for men to open God’s word (Genesis 25-50) and to learn from what Jacob did well (how he learned to trust and obey God) and to avoid the many things in which Jacob failed (like not being a strategic and involved dad).  It will take a little bit of work, but isn’t learning what it means to be a man worth it?