“I Will Not Eat”

The servant Abraham sent in search of a wife for his son Isaac was a trustworthy and disciplined individual. Soon after arriving in the city of Nahor, he met Rebekah, learned that she was related to Abraham, and quickly concluded that she was the one the Lord had chosen. Rebekah’s family invited him into their home and offered him food, but he was determined to fulfill his assignment first:

There was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand.

Genesis 24:33

He was mission-focused, perhaps to a fault. After they all agreed that Rebekah would accompany him back to Abraham’s house, Rebekah’s mother asked the servant to wait ten or more days before returning. The servant was in a hurry to get back, and Rebekah, ready to move forward with her decision, agreed to leave right away (Genesis 24:55-58).

Contrast that self-discipline with the impulsiveness of Esau, born years later to Rebekah and Isaac. Coming in from the fields, hungry and exhausted, Esau saw that his brother Jacob had cooked some red pottage (lentil soup). “Feed me, I pray thee,” he entreated. Jacob offered a deal: pottage and bread for Esau’s birthright. Esau immediately engaged in the faulty rationalization of the impetuous: “Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” (Genesis 25:32). And so, unlike his grandfather’s servant, who had subordinated his physical appetites to his sense of duty, Esau consumed his inheritance.

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma counseled his son Shiblon to discipline himself. “Use boldness, but not overbearance,” he said; “and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love” (Alma 38:12). It is impossible to show love for the people around us if we are governed by our appetites.

Today, I will prioritize duty over convenience. I will defer gratification in the interest of accomplishing significant goals and of serving the people around me.