The Fool

October 31

Ezekiel 1-3

Psalm 119:65-72

Proverbs 26:11-12

Hebrews 9:11-28

The Fool

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

Solomon uses vivid imagery in this passage to illustrate the futility of someone who is unwilling to learn from their mistakes.  2 Peter 2:22 uses this same metaphor of a dog returning to its vomit and adds, “and a sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.“ LSB  God wants us to understand that it isn’t just silly or foolish, but it is disgusting.  “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” is a common phrase that is  attributed to Rita Mae Brown, a civil rights activist and feminist writer.¹²  While it isn’t a technical definition of insanity, it is certainly characteristic of a fool.  When we repeat the same behaviors over and over it goes from being a mistake to a deliberate destructive pattern.  Unfortunately, when this occurs the fool not only harms himself, but those around him.  We all mess up sometimes.  It is part of our sinful, human nature that can’t be avoided.  But as believers, God gives us the wisdom and ability to learn from our mistakes and break unhealthy patterns of behavior.  When we make a mistake, the first thing we need to do it recognize our error, confess it to God and ask Him to forgive us (1 John 1:9).  If someone else is involved we should go to them, confess and ask for their forgiveness as well (Matthew 5:23-24).  Then it is important that we take some time and reflect on what happened, what lead to our choice, why we did what we did and how we can prevent it from happening again.  We need to spend time in prayer asking God to give us wisdom and insight from our behaviors and help us avoid repeating it in the future.  It may also be helpful to seek advice from a spiritual mentor and to ask a trusted friend to help keep us accountable.

After we have done those things we need to press on.  “Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13 LSB   “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV   We cannot give up or wallow in our past mistakes.  We don’t forget them so that we don’t repeat them, but we cannot dwell on them so that we become ineffective in the future.  There is mercy and forgiveness in the Lord.  There is always a way forward.