March 13, 2016 (Proverbs 26:11)

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly” (Prov 26:11). Those referred to as “fools” in proverbs are the persons who refuse to accept the divine influence of God on their hearts in contrast to the “wise” who know God and obey His commands. Although fools frequently find themselves in desperate straits as a result of ungodly decisions, and suffer as a consequence, they tend to repeat the error of their ways and find themselves falling into the very same pit they had dug for themselves earlier. It is commonly referred to as repeating what failed in the past, yet expecting the outcome to be different. This type of behavior is compared to a dog returning to its own vomit, something with which a person who has ever been a dog owner is familiar. It is a pattern of behavior which typifies any type of addiction of which there is a nearly endless variety of manifestations. Early in my own sobriety over addictions in the latter 1980’s, I became involved in recovery programs and later was privileged to direct Christ-centered programs both for the Salvation Army and in our local county jail. It did not require great insight for me to recognize that returning to one’s vomit, so to speak, regarding drug and alcohol abuse was rarely solved by a so-called 12-step program. The national success rate in America for programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous is 5% at best for long-term sobriety. The emotional hurts and hangups which drive a person to addictive behavior, especially a deep-seated need to be loved instead of rejected, do not yield to permanent healing though any approach which depends upon self-determination and working the steps. The Answer is not found in a program but in a Person who came to set man free not only spiritually but also emotionally as well as physically. It is Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit who has kept me from being a “fool” and returning to the vomit of alcohol and drug abuse as well as cigarette and marijuana smoking for the past thirty years. It is by God’s divine influence on my heart known as grace (Greek charis) that I have not returned to my past folly at any time, and by His grace alone. The stresses of everyday life and temptations by Satan, the father of lies, may well continue unabated. But if one’s Deliverer has been the Son of God and believers will walk in the Spirit, then the inner conflict which can lead a person to return to his folly will be resisted successfully. The apostle admonishes, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Paul has described the new covenant as the “ministry of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:8). It is by that ministry we can be delivered and sustained such that Proverbs 26:11 will never find expression in the lives of those having regenerated hearts.