Day 11

By chapter 32 Jacob has transformed spiritually, but here in chapter 31, Jacob lacked any ethical system in his life.  For Jacob, legality was equated with morality, and there are many people who fall into this category.  That is, anything which was not contrary to the law was no problem for his conscience.  Jacob has not broken the law in anything he did, but he trifled with ethics.  Jacob’s contract with Laban and his manipulation of the flocks in order to prosper at Laban’s expense was hardly ethical, but it was strictly legal—so much so, in fact, that he could later challenge Laban to accuse him of any infractions of their agreement (31:36-42).
Laban had lived and worked closely together with Jacob for 20 years, and he was convinced of Jacob’s lack of integrity.  He had felt cheated by him before.  Now Jacob leaves at a time when Laban is off busy elsewhere.  Laban comes back and finds that his precious idols have been stolen and Jacob is gone.  When he does catch up with him, the first tent he searches is Jacob’s.

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?