TLIC FAMILY. PROVERBS. OCTOBER 13: DOG.

TLICfamily

Oct 13

THINK TOGETHER.

Do you like dogs? What do you like about them?

READ TOGETHER

Proverbs 26:11. Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

We love dogs in America don't we? Do you own a dog? If you do, likely you love your dog. You feed your dog expensive foods, and take it to the vet, and for walks, and play fetch, and scratch his ears and belly.

But in Bible days they hated dogs. Dogs were unclean (not just dirty but "spiritually unclean"). Dogs weren't pets back then. They wandered the streets and ate garbage. They were annoying at best, and dangerous at worst.

Solomon is describing the behavior of fools by using a pretty gross comparison. A person who repeats the same foolish behavior is like a dog who vomits and then eats it. Yuck! I have actually seen dogs do this before (as well as eat some other pretty gross things). Solomon uses this disgusting illustration because he wants us to understand just how bad our sin is for us, especially when we do the same things over, and over again.

Think about it. What makes a dog throw up? It's because the its body has rejected the thing that it ate. That thing is bad for the dog, so the dog vomits it out. So for that dog to eat that same thing again...well that's just ridiculous isn't it? But the truth is that we do the same thing when we return to the same sins, the same bad habits, the same way of thinking, and worst of all, the same way of not trusting Jesus, over and over again.

Jesus saved us not just so that we will go to Heaven someday, but so that TODAY we can stop returning to the same sins, the same foolish thoughts and actions. We have a new heart that loves God, and when we remember his love for us it helps us to make a different choice, and think a better thought.

Because of Jesus we have a heart that loves God more than foolishness.

With Jesus we don't have to repeat the same foolish mistakes over and over.

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Talk through these questions together: Can you think of something foolish that you tend to do over and over again? Why do you think you keep doing it? What do you think Jesus can help you do differently?

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus, I don't want to be like a disgusting dog. Help me to not repeat the same sins over and over, but to learn from them and trust you instead. Amen.