What we come back to

"Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly." - Proverbs 26:11 (ESV)

Everybody has something that they come back to.  In the world of church vocabulary we call these people Backsliders, or we say the Devil "has a foothold."  With some people what they go back to is obvious: alcohol, sex, drugs, suicidal acts.  These folks receive a lot of pity and a lot of shaken heads and wagged fingers.  It sucks to be the one whose vomit is so apparent when the fact is that we're all going back to our vomit.  But if your vomit is fear, or anxiety, or self-loathing it's just not as obvious.  I've seen dogs go back to their vomit, and chances are that if you're a dog owner you've seen it too.  It's gross.  Your dog hacks something up and then he eats it.  Like I said, it's gross.  Sometimes they don't eat it right away.  Sometimes they kind of eat it surreptitiously so that you don't see since they know it pisses you off because it's gross.  And sometimes they dig right in until everything they hacked up is right back in.

I think these visuals are important.  The proverb itself is rather disgusting; a striking visual way to highlight a serious moral problem.  But without harping on the substance of what the proverb addresses, I'd rather point out that you have some vomit in your life.  We all do.  The fact of the matter is you're going to throw up and you're going to, at least once in a while, go back to that putrid pile of waste and pick through it for whatever it is you want.  More than likely you'll do it in shame and disgust.  More than likely you won't enjoy the experience.  But more than likely you'll do it.  You'll walk in fear again, or go back to the bottle, or call up your ex hoping she'll let you in her bed.  More than likely you'll do it; but you don't have to.

Here is the good news, which is what "gospel" means: God still loves you.  He sees you returning to the vomit and he loves you.  In fact, He knew that you would go back to it and He still loves you.  In greater fact, He knew all of the shortcomings and failures and vomit-eating awfulness of humanity and He still sent His son Jesus to save us all.  Happy ending.