A Dog and His Fool (Part 2)

The fool and a dog are similar.

April 20, 2019

"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."

Proverbs 26:11

Part 2

Yesterday:
“As a dog returneth to his vomit,”
To a dog, vomit looks and tastes good, and it just might remind him of his mom feeding him.

Today:
“So a fool returneth to his folly.”
At this point, we should ask the question, “Why does a fool keep on doing folly?”  He is attracted to foolishness as surely as a magnet will point to magnetic north.  According to Solomon’s illustration of his pet, there’s a couple of reasons.

First, he has a hunger for it.  It’s what he’s accustomed to eating.  The fool only desires the foolishness he knows so well.  It’s what makes him hungry.  And even if his folly is harmful, he will still go after what he hungers for.  Unlike, the fool, a person who has trusted in Jesus Christ as his Savior, has become a “new creature.”  The believer develops a new appetite for the things of God.  Here is a simple illustration of this idea.  After living on the island of Guam for so many years, my wife and I have developed an appetite for “island food.”  We are often hungry for the new tastes we have developed.  Believer, has your appetite changed as you walk with the LORD?

This is where parents can be of great help to their children.  As you observe your child’s propensities, what are his cravings that you can help him learn to control?  The formative years are the time your child needs the help to learn the difference between what is good and bad, and the difference between what is ok, and what is best.  You are helping your child to develop discernment.  Help your child to hunger for the right things.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,” (Matthew 5:6).

Second, he thinks it tastes good.  To him, foolishness just tastes good.  What to God’s child is repugnant, the fool adores.  Like a child who enjoys his mom’s cooking, the fool loves his folly.  It just tastes familiar to him.  Foolishness is the fool’s “comfort food.”  Do you remember Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego, after they were taken with Israel into captivity in Babylon?  They were offered the king’s food, as were all the Hebrew princes, but unlike all the others, they would not eat it.  No doubt this food was the best and richest that Babylon could offer.  Instead of giving up their kosher diet, they decided they would only eat what they knew was best for them.  And after the testing time, they were shown to be remarkably better than all the others.  As a wise man realizes that it is important to give up what is “tasty,” but not good for him, for what is best for him.  The fool will not make that connection.  He wants his folly, and he wants it now!