Genesis chapter 31, look at verse 1. And he, Jacob, heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before. And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return to the land of thy fathers and of thy kindred, and I will be with thee." If you've studied the Bible at all, you know that Jacob is one of the most important figures in the Old Testament from a historical standpoint. He was, of course, the father of 12 sons. Those 12 sons went on to become the heads of the 12 tribes that were named after them. It is in this text later on in the chapter that God changes his name to Israel. We see him come out of Padan Aram as the father of the nation that bears his name. And whenever we preach from the life of Jacob, it usually takes the form of, don't do that, don't live like that. It's very rarely an encouraging or an edifying sermon because really his life was such a mess. But even then, we try to temper our judgment just a little bit because the more that you study the life of Jacob, you realize you are really studying your own life. Because there is so much Jacob in all of us. Jacob was a swindler. He was a deceiver. He was a conniving man. And as a consequence, Jacob spent most of his life on the run, running from somebody. And all of that running makes for a very hard life. In fact, in Genesis 47, toward the end of his life, Jacob stands before Pharaoh and here's what he tells Pharaoh. He says, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. I've lived for 130 years. And then here was what Jacob said. He said, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Jacob looks back toward the end of a life and he says, it's been a hard journey. My life has been filled with evil and trouble and struggles. Of course, you know that the struggles of his life began before Jacob was even born. There's that strange story of how that Jacob and Esau wrestled in the womb and Esau came out first, but Jacob was grabbing onto his heel as if he was trying to pull him back into the womb. That strange story is only the precursor to the struggles that would go on between he and Esau for the rest of their life. That struggle is the most pronounced in the bartering for the birthright. Esau the hunter comes home from a hunt and he is famished with hunger and Jacob offers him a bowl of food for his birthright privileges. Jacob, by the way, was the sovereign choice of God, only the sovereign choice of God to bear the rights of the firstborn, though he was not the firstborn, but it was never intended that he get those privileges, that blessing through trickery. While Esau was not deceived, the Bible says that Esau despised his birthright. Jacob sowed the seeds of conflict with his brother and he set the stage for an even greater con with his father. The dysfunctional home that he grew up in, his father favored Esau. He was his mama's boy. And Isaac became concerned in his old age and in his blindness that his days were few. And so he calls Esau in and he's going to pronounce the family blessing over his life. Esau goes out on a hunt to gather some meat for a celebratory feast. And while he's away, Rebekah sets in motion that devious plan to deceive her husband and to give the blessing to Jacob instead. When you read the conversation between Rebekah and Jacob and that scheming together, Jacob never questions the morality of that plan, only how are we going to pull it off without getting caught. Jacob goes in to his father, he's disguised as Esau, he lies to his father, he cons Isaac in the blessing him with the double portion of the inheritance. When Esau comes home from the field and he discovers what has happened, he vows that he's going to kill his brother. So now Rebecca has to beg Jacob to leave home to to save his life. And so he she suggests that he seeks refuge in in her and where her labor and her brother is. And and her words suggest that that that she thinks you'll only be gone for about just a just a little sojourn. Little does she know that she'll never see her son alive again. So under the cover of darkness, Jacob slips out of the home and into the dark night to put as much distance as he can between himself and the anger of Esau. It's not long into the journey that Jacob has an encounter with God. As far as we know, it's his first encounter with God. He goes to sleep one night under the stars. He has a vision of angels descending and ascending a ladder from heaven. As powerful a vision as that was, what Jacob heard that night was even more powerful. God announcing to Jacob that he was his chosen heir of the Abrahamic covenant. Though he was leaving the land of Canaan, God would go with him and God would protect him and would bring him back the father of a great nation. And Jacob's response to the covenant is less than satisfactory. It's filled with too many ifs. If God will keep me, if God will go with me, if God will keep me in the way that I go, if God will give me food to eat and if God will give me raiment to wear. That's a lot of conditions to put on following God. Nevertheless, Jacob names the place Bethel, house of God, and he leaves not knowing he won't be back for 20 years. So Jacob finally comes into Haram and he takes up with Laban, his uncle. Almost immediately, he falls in love with the younger two daughters, Rachel. And when he goes in to negotiate for the hand of Rachel in marriage, he strikes the deal that I will work with you for seven years, seven years for the hand of Rachel. And he finds out that Laban is just as crooked as he is. Jacob doesn't have a dowry, so working for seven years would take the place of the dowry. And after seven years of labor for Rachel instead, he gets Leah. He wakes up the morning after his honeymoon night and discovers that the woman that he married is not who he thought that she was. Laban tells him it is not customary for us to marry the younger before the older. And if you want the younger, then you're going to have to work another seven years. And Jacob says it would be just like a day to do that. And so Jacob works another seven years. And really he's just getting a taste of his own poison because what Jacob had done is he had deceived his father into substituting the younger for the older. Laban has tricked him into substituting the older for the younger. And so the story goes. By the time that Jacob leaves Laban, 20 years later, he'll have four wives, 11 sons. Benjamin is born after he leaves. And when he does leave, the showdown that he's put off with Esau is inevitable. It is surely coming. But before he wrestles with Esau, he's going to wrestle with God. It's going to leave him limping permanently. Jacob lived what we would call a crisis Christianity. He lived his day-to-day life as though he did not know God. He was more flesh than he was faith. He called on God only when his back was against the wall and he saw no way out, but he did not have a daily walk with God. God was his get-out-of-jail card. In Genesis 31, I bring you to the point in the story. Jacob has been away from home for 20 years. He has swindled, he has crooked, he has connived, he has schemed, he has stolen. He has lived a life of getting one over on the other man. He's constantly had to look back over his shoulder to see if his sins, if his crooked deals are catching up on him. He has run from Esau, he's gonna run from Laban. He's running away from God, but for the first time, there is a new desire in his heart. He's tired of running. He's tired of dreaming up the next scam, and Jacob wants to go home. Would you look at chapter 30 and verse 25? Chapter 30 and verse 25, it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, Jacob said unto Laban, send me away, that I may go unto my own place and to my country. Maybe if Jacob had gotten Rachel first after those first seven years, he would have left then. But he says another seven years, 14 years total. And in chapter 30, he has been there for 14 years. And he says at 14 years that it is long enough. And he comes to Laban and he says, I have fulfilled my obligations. I've married the woman that I truly love. I want to go home. Look at verse 27. Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, Terry, I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. Laban has learned that it's good to have Jacob around. He's a good worker. I don't want you to leave. I'm blessed by you. So what he does is he talks Jacob into staying. A new deal is struck, and six years, Jacob prospers greatly, he becomes a very wealthy man. But six years, six years is long enough, and now that desire, it comes back into his heart, or that desire has been smoldering his heart. It was there 14 years, now another six years, and Jacob gets to the place, I want to go home. So chapter 31 and verse three. The Lord said unto Jacob, return, unto the land of thy fathers and of thy kindred, and I will be with thee. 14 years serving for the daughters, six years serving for the wealth of the cattle, but I've ran long enough and I just want to go home. I don't know how I'm gonna face Esau. I don't know how that's gonna work out, but I know that I can't stay here. He hasn't heard the voice of God in his life for 20 years now, but home is in his heart and Jacob makes the decision that no matter what it ends up costing me, I'm going home. Do you get it? I want to go home. I don't know who I'm preaching to this morning, but there's somebody here that you have been away from home for many, many years. You've wandered away from God. You've wandered away from the place that you belong. You've ran from truth. You've ran from conviction. You've ran from the Spirit of God. And you once had a daily walk with God, but no more. And you once enjoyed sweet fellowship with the Savior, but that fellowship is cold and is distant. And you once welcomed the conviction of the Spirit in your heart, but now you drown that still small voice out with the clamor of the Word. And it's not that you disdain the things of God. It's just that you're so preoccupied with things and stuff and job and career and money. Somebody help me on worldly pleasure. And even as you have chased after the pleasures of a carnal life and have forsook the spiritual, there is a voice somewhere deep inside of you that says you ought to go back home. That voice is called out to you to be heard, and you listen, and you hear that voice, and you say, I know that it's gonna cost me, but it'd be so much sweeter if I can get back to that place that I used to be with God. If I could one more time hear the Holy Spirit speak in my heart again, if I knew that I was clean, if I knew that I was following the direction of the will of God, if I could have the tears of worship, if I could have the warmth of worship in my heart, I don't know what it'd cost me, but I'd like to go back home. The songwriters said, where is the blessingness I once knew when first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word? It could be that it was sin that took you away from home. Got entangled in a lifestyle or habit or some sin that took you away from God. And the years find you only entangled deeper and deeper and deeper You feel like that you can never get out. You don't wanna be where you are. You want to feel the presence of God again, but sin has robbed you of so much. It could be it was simply a bad choice. It could be that it was the bad choice of a bad friend. But I'm preaching to somebody this morning, you're not in a good place spiritually. And you come to church and you try to work up worship, but it's lifeless, it's cold, it's distant. All that you can muster up is a little bit of emotion. If we sing the right song, you can get a little bit of emotional, but it's not the real thing. You used to know the presence of God, but not now. And could it be that there is a longing in your heart that you would like to get back to where you are? Wouldn't you like to know that nothing stands between you and the Savior? That worship is real, not contrived. It is real in your heart. Wouldn't you like to know that first love again? Can I tell you this morning that as much as the prodigal wanted to go home to the father, the father wanted to come home even more. I tell you, I tell you that the longing in your father's heart for you to come home is stronger than the desire in your heart. And ere you feel the tug of home, the heavenly father begins to draw and begins to woo and to bring you back. It wasn't just a desire that Jacob came up with on his own. No, I believe that God has begun to set some things in motion and begin to set some factors in place to put With that longing in Jacob's heart to get him to leave the far country and to go back home. As you ponder the story, as you ponder the story, I believe that there are several factors that told Jacob it is time to go home. How do you know when it's time to go home? I'll show you the first one. Look at verse number one. You heard the words of Laban's son saying, taking away all that was our father's. And of that which was our father's, hath he gotten all this glory. If you know the story of Jacob, you know how that when he came into the land, he met Laban's servants and Rachel there at the well. And there's a lot of handshaking, hand back slapping, and glad to have you's in the whole chapter. Boy, they were glad that he came. Laban welcomes Jacob into the family, agrees to let him work for his daughter, Rachel. The sons of Laban are glad to have him. They work well together. There is no strife between the brethren and the kinsmen. But after 20 years, the attitude has changed. They're not as excited to have him as they were before. In fact, look at verse two. Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him, even Laban has begun to change his tune. He smiled when Jacob came. He's not smiling now because Jacob has gotten rich and they resent him for it. And there is a discontent there. It is, and to get this, it is Laban and his sons who are discontent with Jacob. You know, when a Christian begins to cool spiritually, I mean, begins to compromise that the world will cheer him on. You know, when a teenager begins to show to his friends that he's willing to loosen up on the standards and not be such a holy Joe, you know, they'll welcome him into the fold. It's not cool, it's not cool to, and you can't be in our clique as long as you are a fuddy dud, but if you'll listen to our music, and if you'll wear our dress, and if you'll watch, somebody help me now, if you'll watch our movies, then we'll clap for your compromise, and they will cheer. Every worldly thing you do and every worldly thing that you say You will have a newfound popularity. They will tell you how wonderful you are. They are okay with your religion as long as you don't go crazy about it. That's the story of the prodigal son all over. When he goes into the far country, as long as he's got money, he's got friends. When he joined himself to it, but when he ran out of money, he found out that he ran out of friends. Here it is, he lost the smile of the world. When the world no longer smiles at you, It's God telling you, it's time to come home. Jacob was welcomed by the sons of Laban, but now they're not as excited to have him around. And the realization is they never did love him. They never did carry anything for him. They are selfish, self-centered men, and they saw Jacob as somebody who can help us get more for ourselves. And when the world no longer smiled on Jacob, God used that to tell him, it is time for you to come home. Maybe God has allowed that to happen to you. He creates a longing in your heart to come home when that music career doesn't pan out. When that career path doesn't lead to instant riches, when Nashville or Hollywood or whatever really dream doesn't bring you success. I know a young man that sat right here, dreamed of being a professional soccer player. His parents took him all over the country, auditioning in professional soccer teams. Tonight, today, he's not a professional soccer player and he's not very on fire spiritually either. The world has a way of pumping you up and taking all the air out of you. One year you see some sports star and he's all over ESPN. One injury, one injury, and they never talk about him anymore. because the world has a way of using you up and spitting you out. And the world may be smiling at you today, but when you lose that smile, it is time to go home. When you realize that they're not your friends, that they are not on your side, when the applause turns to criticism, when their words become very bitter, and when you learn that they demand more than they will ever give, may God help every backslider to see that this world will not always smile upon you. It's where you are now will never be enough for them tomorrow. You'll always have to go a little bit farther in sin to keep them in your fold. And when the world turns sour on you and no longer smiles, it's God saying time to come home. It's the second thing. Look at verse three. The Lord said unto Jacob, do you know what's strange about that verse? Who speaks to Jacob in that verse? The Lord, God. Did you know that is the first time God has spoken to Jacob in 20 years? I'll show you the last time, come back to chapter 29. I'll show it to you. All the way back to chapter 28, chapter 28. This is Bethel. This is when he's running from home. Chapter 28, verse 13. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac, the land wherein thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed. Did you know that is the last time God said anything to Jacob? Until you get to Genesis 31. Did you know it is hard to hear the voice of God while you're in the world? You know, it's hard to hear God when you're running away from him. It's hard to hear the voice of God when you are drowning it out with the clamoring of the world. And in 20 years, Jacob has talked about God. As far as we know, he's never talked to God. And the chapters in between, there's no alters. There's no prayers. There's no memorials. There's no calling upon the name of the Lord. There's no communion. There's no direction. There's no walking with God. Too busy making money for all of that. Too busy getting rich and the voice of God is absent in his life. But now, God speaks. Jacob, when God speaks to you, you know it's time to come home. You see, in our Baptist churches, we have people that sit in our pews every Sunday morning. They have their churchianity down pat. Slide into the pew for a Sunday morning sermon, slide right back out and never heard from God. Come to hear the preacher, but didn't come to hear from heaven. And go all week, and the next week, and the week after, and never once feel the prick of conviction, never once feel the warmth of worship. They never pray. And they never weep. Never confess some sin. Never get excited over something that you read in the Bible. And the only Christian activity that you have is to hear a sermon on Sunday morning. That's good till the next Sunday. But then one day, God shatters the silence, and only through his long-suffering and mercy, God speaks to you again. Sometimes it's through a sermon. Sometimes it's a song. Sometimes it's through scripture. It might be through a storm. It could be solitude. God begins to convict you. God begins to prick you. God begins to woo you. God begins to draw you. and you recognize the voice, but it's been so long since you heard the voice. In fact, maybe I pray that even in this service that somebody will hear the voice of God, that God is speaking to you. Some of us know what it is to hear a sermon and feel like the preacher's talking just directly to me. We knew God had my number and God was ringing my number. And when you hear that voice, when God speaks to you again, it is time, it is time to come home. I sat down earlier this morning, I read back through Genesis 29 and 30. Here's what I was struck by in those two chapters, how many times God is mentioned in those years in between. God hearkened, God heard, God remembered. I thought, man, there's a lot of God in those two chapters, and then I realized none of it had to do with Jacob. No, Leah knew that she'd always play second fiddle to Rachel, and God hearkened unto her and opened her wounds. And Rachel couldn't bear children, and God hearkened to her, and God heard her prayer. So there's a lot of God moving in chapter 29 and 30 that was in the family of Jacob, but it was not in him. And it tells me that God wasn't absent during those years. God was right there all along, and he was working on the behalf of the people in Jacob's life, but Jacob never heard God. a Christian man who has a godly wife and has children who love the Lord and that godly wife and those children are on fire for God and they hear the voice of God and they want to serve God and that same husband goes along with it but he never hears God in his life. God can be working in his home but he never enjoys the blessings of God being in that home. It's a young person raised in a godly home. God is all around in that home. God is in the music. God is all over that but they never hear God in their God's not moving in his heart. It would be that way until one day out of the blue, God spoke. God spoke. It's a still, small voice, easily squelched. You can turn it out. Maybe it's here, maybe it's gone, maybe it lingers for a while, but if you're away from home and you hear God speaking to you, he's trying to say it's time to come home. Let me give you a third thing, look at verse number seven. Verse seven. Jacob says to his wives, and your father hath deceived me and changed my wages 10 times, but God suffered him not to hurt me. Jacob goes to his wives one day and begins to complain. Your father has swindled me, he's changed my wages 10 times. Maybe to agree to a price to pay for a job and get the job done, Laban would change the terms. But then look at verse number eight, verse number eight. If somebody knows who's ringing to answer it, verse number eight. If he said thus, the speckled shall be thy wages, then all the cattle bear speckled. If he said thus, the ring straight should be thy hire, then bear all the cattle ring straight. Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father and given them to me. Now watch this. Jacob has gone to Laban. He's worked out a deal. Jacob said, I'll take all the speckled, the brown, the ring straight cattle and sheep and the goats. He said, I would take all of those and you take all of the rest. And so they worked out that deal. And then Jacob concocted in the chapter before this strange scheme. They would take polar rods, or branches, or saplings, and he would strip them down, and he would put them in the watering troughs of his flocks, and somehow they started conceiving, and boy, he started multiplying and multiplying. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you, I have no idea how that worked. In fact, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not sure that it did work. I don't know. I don't think, I don't think, now somebody proved me wrong, I don't think that those, branches had anything to do with conceiving. I think that God did that. What brought about the strife, however, is that Jacob is getting wealthier than the rest. God made it, God made up to Jacob what Laban wouldn't give him. Here's what I want you to see. That when Jacob left for home He wasn't rock bottom. That's usually when people think about God. When they come to its end, when they've come to the end of the rope, when they are, when they are, the prodigal comes to himself, he finds himself on a far farmyard. It's usually when people get to that point that they then begin to look God. That's not where Jacob is. Jacob is wealthier. Jacob is more successful. Jacob is more prosperous. Watch this. There's no satisfaction. No satisfaction. When there is no satisfaction in worldly achievements, it's time to go home. The call to home was stronger than the call of more wealth. It really doesn't matter as much as it did before. Laban can offer him a better deal. I'm not gonna take it this time. And at first, Laban and his sons are disillusioned with Jacob, but now Jacob is disillusioned himself. And the day that the glitter of the world is no longer attractive to you is the day that God begins to call you home, as long as there's something else that they can offer you, as long as there's another pot of gold to chase after. But if you ever see the world is just full of empty promises, if you ever get to the place where I want God more than the world, I'm not satisfied. with what the world is giving me. It's time to come home. Can I give you a fourth thing? Look at verse seven again. Jacob said, your father hath deceived me. He's changed my wages 10 times, but what's this phrase? But God suffered him not to hurt me. Laban had cheated Jacob, he's abused him, he's bullied him into lower pay. There's probably a lot of things that Jacob just had to swallow because Laban has all of the power. And Laban could have done much damage to Jacob, but Jacob said that God suffered him not to hurt me. And I thought about this. Despite all of his running, he is leaving Laban without a lot of damage. He could have left broken, shattered, ruined, I mean, in a mess, but God has protected him. Get this, he is leaving without permanent damage. If sin has not permanently damaged you, it's time to come home. Now, let me make it clear. I believe that God can rescue you no matter where you are. No matter how deep into sin you get, I promise you that the grace of God is great. You can come to God with your brokenness and your broken life and your mess, and he will welcome you back. You'll still bear the scars of sin. You don't get back the years that you wasted in the world, but the grace of God reaches deeper than any stain of sin. But you're not there yet. Somebody in this room, you may have tasted alcohol for the first time. I'm gonna tell you, if you continue down that path, it's gonna lead to a dark place. But you're not there yet. There's somebody who took the first drink and tonight he's sleeping under a bridge somewhere. But you're not there yet. There's a teenager that has the smoldering rebellion in your heart against your parents. You haven't run away from home and got strung out on drugs in a faraway place yet. Yet. Because of the movies you've been watching, you may have let a curse word or two slip out of your mouth. If you keep on, one day you'll have a mouth that's filthy to make a sailor blush. But you're not there yet. It's gonna hurt you. It's gonna scar you. It's gonna take you down a road that you don't want to go. You're headed to the far country. But you're not there yet. It hasn't ruined everything in your life yet. It's time to come home. One of the greatest scourges of our land is pornography. Did you know that most men that are addicted to pornography started in their teen years, even their preteen years? It always starts out with something they call soft. There's nothing soft about it. It always progresses to something harder, more extreme, There are men who cannot remember when they were not addicted to pornography. There have been men, there are men who have so warped their mind with that scourge that they cannot look at a woman without having a perverse thought. Titus says, until the pure, all things are pure. but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving. Nothing is pure. You're not a casualty yet. You're not a statistic yet. You're not a sermon illustration yet. That thing that you're playing with, that thing that you're dabbling in, that thing that you're fantasizing about, it is going to hurt you greatly. And Jacob says, I have escaped harm, and Laban has not hurt me. I have made my wealth, and I've played the game well, and I'm getting out before Laban comes after me. And maybe Jacob is a little smug in that I have beaten the odds. Because that preacher said, if I get out of the will of God, that God said I'd pay a price, but I'm not paying a price. Wait a minute, Jacob. How's your family doing? Look at chapter 31 and verse 14. Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion of our inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us and hath quite devoured also our money. If you write in your Bible, you ought to write one word in the fly leaf. Bitterness. Bitterness. Look at verse 17. Then Jacob rose up and set his sons and his wives upon camels. And he carried away all his cattle and all his goods, which he had gotten, the cattle of his going, which he had gotten, and paid an harem for to go to Isaac, his father in the land of Canaan. And Laban went to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. If you write in your Bible, you ought to write the word idolatry. Don't boast too much, Jacob. Your family is not doing well. Maybe it hasn't ruined you, but it's ruining your family. You may think that you're doing okay, but you're causing your wife to suffer. You're causing your children to suffer. Hey, Dad, you better wake up and bring that family close to Christ. You better wake up and realize the power of that spiritual influence of that home. And if sin has not permanently damaged you, If there is still a spark of life in your children, it's time to come home. I'll give you one more thought and I'm done. Look at verse 20. So he fled with all that he had and he rose up, passed over the river and set his face toward the mountain Gilead. It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him, pursued after him seven days' journey. They overtook him in the Mount Gilead. Look right here, look right here. Jacob has to leave covertly. He waits for the perfect opportunity. And he catches the time when Laban is away and his shearing sheep and Laban is gone. Ghosts just wise pack up. We're leaving now. We are getting out of here. Jacob knows he's got to run hard. Jacob gets a three days' journey. He is three days gone. before Laban finds out that he's left. He's got a three day head start. Laban gets his men together and Laban starts coming after him. It will take him seven days to catch up with him. So for 10 days, for 10 days, Jacob is running hard. He's got four wives. He has 11 small children. He has all of his sheep and his goats and his cattle. He doesn't have armed men. He doesn't have an army. He doesn't have a defense. He doesn't have weapons. And if Laban catches up to him, he is at the mercy of Laban. He will surely pay a heavy price. And for 10 days, he pushes hard. But he looks back and he sees a cloud on the horizon. And every day Laban is coming closer. I want to show you something. I want you to look at verse 23. He took his brethren with him, pursued after him seven days' journey. Well, they overtook him in the Mount Gilead. Look right here. Look right here. Look right here. I want you to read verse 25. Then Laban overtook Jacob. Laban finally catches up to him. It is now showdown time. He catches up to him at the end of verse 23. At verse 25, he finally encounters him. Now, what would you expect to read in verse 24? Look right here, don't read ahead. It's gonna be bad. It's gonna be bloodshed. It's gonna be massacre. It's gonna be revenge. Maybe what happens is Laban is gonna take his daughters back, take all of the grandchildren back. Maybe he's gonna force Jacob to come back and serve him. Look at verse 24. God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him, take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. Laban, you're not gonna entice him to go back, and you're not gonna hurt him. All of that wheeling and dealing in those 20 years, you know Jacob has pulled a fast one over him, but you're not going Now, there's a lot of reading in between, but I want you to look at verse 55, last verse. Parting words between Jacob and Laban. And early in the morning, Laban rose up and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place. He has come so close to complete disaster. But here's what God says. there's not going to be any judgment. Can I tell you that if God spares you judgment, it's time to come home. If God has been merciful to you, if God has given you grace more than you deserve, if God gives you one more chance, don't go back into sin. It's time to go home. How do you know when it's time to go home? Has about her eyes are closed. Maybe there's somebody here. Not where you want to be spiritually. You want with God is not like it used to be. You and God are not like it used to be. Why don't you step out of your place? Why don't you come to an altar this morning? And say, Lord, I, I want to come back to that place of fellowship, that place of worship, that place of closeness, that place of intimacy. I want to come home. I want to know what it is to hear your voice, to feel your touch, to know your blessing. I want to walk in your path. I want to read the Bible that speak to my heart. I want to pray, know that I've touched heaven. Whatever the world is offering you, I pray that God would create a holy dissatisfaction for the glitter of it. Is God doing something in your heart this morning that says it's time, it's time to come home? You're here this morning, you've never been saved, never trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Why don't you step out of your pew and come, let us take a Bible, show you how to be saved this morning. Heavenly Father, thank you for the words, speak to hearts, I pray. May there be a good response to the altar now, in Christ's name I pray.