Choosing diamonds over dirt

Recently I was doing what I do far too often … I was sitting in my chair at home in front of the TV, mindlessly doom-scrolling reels on social media. Most of those short videos are just silly or dumb, and lead to little more than brain rot. Yet, many of us still waste an inordinate amount of time doing that very thing. 

However that particular evening, an amusing, and somewhat thought-provoking video began to play. In this short clip, a father offered his young son (three or four-years-old I’m guessing) the choice between 10,000 dollars or two Oreos. Read that again: $10,000 or two Oreos! 

Believe it or not, the kid chose the cookies over the cash! Repeatedly, the father asked, “are you sure?” The boy affirmed his choice and delightfully ate his sweet treat. Of course, every adult watching this realizes just how childish was his choice. After all, ten grand can buy a truck load of cookies!

However, seeing that made me wonder; how often do we grown-ups do something very similar? How readily do we behave like this little boy, and exchange something of great value for something that only satisfies for a few moments? 

The Old Testament character Esau did this. He came dragging home one day, fatigued and famished following a long and unsuccessful hunting trip, and in a hasty instance of childlike irrationality, he sold his birthright for a bowl of beans (Genesis 25:29-34). Esau traded something of immense spiritual and material worth to satisfy his temporary cravings. 

Sure, he was hungry but to exchange an irreplaceable spiritual commodity for something that only brings short-lived satisfaction was not only unwise – it was foolish. I suppose, at that moment, physical gratification meant more to him than God’s blessings. But like the kid in the video, Esau made a really dumb decision (to put it bluntly).  

Yet, how often are we guilty of the same thing? 

There is a question I sometimes ask people; would you be willing to trade a handful of diamonds for a fistful of dirt? The answer of course, is always an emphatic NO! And yet, spiritually speaking, we do that very thing far too often. We swap diamonds for dirt. 

Said another way, we exchange invaluable eternal blessings for transient earthly pleasures. God offers true and lasting delights, and yet we trade that away for silly stuff that never truly satiates the soul. If you view life with eternity in view, you can see how readily men and women, boys and girls do this very thing over and over again. 

Let me give you some examples: If we neglect to habitually read our Bibles, but waste time everyday doomscrolling on Facebook, we have chosen dirt over diamonds. If we spend hours in front of the TV, but cannot spend minutes in prayer – we swap precious silver for shifting sand. When we consistently opt out of corporate worship on Sundays to sleep late, go to the lake, or just be lazy – we have chosen a bowl of beans over God’s blessings. 

I am not trying to be legalistic, but maybe it would be profitable for all of us to examine our own actions and consider how often we (proverbially) chose dirt over diamonds. Are we not all guilty of acting like Esau, and exchanging God’s approval for what pleases the flesh? Do you not see men and women who spend their entire lives in pursuit of earthly goods, at the expense of their own soul? Christians and non-Christians alike, trade away their birthright for a bowl of beans! 

Entertainment, hobbies, and pleasure all have their place – but to value these things over God and His word is to trade diamonds for dirt. When we choose temporal delights over spiritual treasures, it reveals just how immature and worldly-minded we are. More often than we care to admit, we are like the child in the video who chooses cookies over cash. 

Dear reader, let me encourage to you value God’s diamonds over earth’s dirt and you will never be sorry. Treasure Christ above all things! Because one day, all the cash and the cookies and everything else is going to melt with a fervent heat and all that will matter is what we have done for Christ.