we all make mistakes in judgment.
two baffling tales and auctions may both offer you insight into the problem. it may get some clue to improve your judgment and decision making.
two “emotionally” charged tales are our starting point. abraham’s son isaac is approaching death’s door. genesis 27. he summons his first born son, esau, and tells him “…and make for me tasty foods as i like, and bring them to me, and i will eat, in order that my soul will bless you before i die.” isaac’s wife, rebecca has other plans. she is determined to have their younger son, jacob, to receive the first born’s blessing. she prepares the tasty food and instructs jacob to deliver it to his blind father, isaac, and steal the blessing. she had jacob put on esau’s fancy clothes and place hides on his to replicate esau’s hairiness. isaac sensed that was a problem. he stated “the voice is the voice of jacob, but the hands are the hands of esau.“ genesis 27:22. clearly, isaac was suspect. despite this doubt, he went forward and gave jacob the blessing.
in the next tale, the tables were flipped on him. madly in love with rachel, his uncle laban’s daughter, he worked seven years to earn the right to marry here. beyond the love, jacob was to have a large feast to celebrate the marriage. uncle laban, instead of rachel, on the wedding night took his older daughter to jacob. jacob woke up in the morning only to discover he was with the wrong wife, it was leah, the older sister, and not rachel. genesis 29:25. in this story, jacob was full of emotion. his great passion, and perhaps some libations, made him unaware of what what happening that night.
we now turn to auctions. business people create a highly charged atmosphere for the participants. irrespective of the item to be purchased, there is either the feelings of “winning” or the “losing” that will be carried by the participants when the cry “sold to…” is called. bidders run the danger of letting their emotions take over from the reality of the “fair” price for the object. with that, we often see individuals significantly “overbid” aka “overpay” for an item.
as such, one, who is concerned about making good judgments, should appreciate the emotionality built into certain events. emotionality can often cloud judgment. while in each tale, deceit was in the works, a strong argument can be made that emotions prevented the individuals from taking stock of the happenings.
in sum, a life lesson and possible explanation of a head scratching tale from the bible. some times, to make a good decision, there is a need to take a step back and let the emotions dissipate.
be well!!
if you enjoyed this post, please “like”
if you would like to read more posts, click here
if you find this post meaningful, please share
if you would like to receive posts, please “follow”
The Ten Commandments Project 