A friend mentioned Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly. the other day. I was totally familiar with
the passage of scripture but I didn't fully grasp its depth until reading the
Commentary just this very minute.
I'd been preaching and teaching all around it in various
forms but now I can fully articulate it . We, myself included, have become
comfortable living in our messes. We have adopted a pattern of pseudo
repentance, meaning we have learned to make empty or token gestures but remain
stuck in the patterns of behavior. We have adopted a mindset that justifies and
rationalizes our behaviors. We have learned to apologize without contrition.
We have to examine our behavior patterns. We have to examine
the people we allow to have access to our spirits; sometimes it's the people we
have in our lives that help keep us entrenched in our behaviors and we wallow
as a collective.
Verse 11. - As the dog returneth to his vomit ( 2
Peter 2:22,
"A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud" which, however, is not quoted from the Septuagint), so a fool returneth to his folly; or, repeateth his folly. The fool never frees himself from the trammels of his foolishness; his deeds and words always bear the same character to the end. The same truth holds good of the sinner, especially the drunkard and the sensualist. If they feel temporary compunction, and reject their sin by partial repentance, they do not really shake it off wholly; it has become a second nature to them, and they soon relapse into it. Septuagint, "As when a dog goes to his own vomit and becomes hateful, so is a fool who returns in his wickedness to his own sin." The LXX. adds a distich which is found in Ecclus. 4:21, "There is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace."
"A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud" which, however, is not quoted from the Septuagint), so a fool returneth to his folly; or, repeateth his folly. The fool never frees himself from the trammels of his foolishness; his deeds and words always bear the same character to the end. The same truth holds good of the sinner, especially the drunkard and the sensualist. If they feel temporary compunction, and reject their sin by partial repentance, they do not really shake it off wholly; it has become a second nature to them, and they soon relapse into it. Septuagint, "As when a dog goes to his own vomit and becomes hateful, so is a fool who returns in his wickedness to his own sin." The LXX. adds a distich which is found in Ecclus. 4:21, "There is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace."
We have exactly 6 hours and 07 minutes to decide how we will
live in 2015....
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