Proverbs 26:11—Dogs and Vomit. Yuck.

My family just got a new puppy. We named her Mojo.

She’s sweet as pie, cute as a button, and — well — gross at times.

In fact, a little episode in my office this morning reminded me of today’s verse:

Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

Proverbs 26:11 ESV

My son and Mojo having some bonding time.

Like the Proverb says, she lost her lunch and immediately wanted to scarf it back up.

I held her back. But she was furiously trying to get at it.

What We Do With Our Sin

This moment is a vivid picture of our lives with sin.

Sin is the root cause of every evil. It’s the source of our suffering. It’s the opposite of God’s nature. Yet somehow, we still clamor back to habitual sins and vices.

As rotten, nasty, and yucky as sin is, its true nature hides behind a facade of sickly sweetness. In fact, dog’s return to their vomit because their noses tell them it’s a tasty food source.

For us, we pursue sin because it’s appealing—when the reality is anything but.

How Peter Applied Proverbs 26:11

In 2 Peter 2:22, Peter quotes Proverbs 26:11 and takes its meaning even further. He wrote to combat false prophets and teachers who were leading people astray. He explained in 2 Peter 2 that they were:

• Denying Jesus with “destructive heresies”
• Following sensuality
• Greedy and exploiting the church
• Promise freedom but are slaves
• Bringing destruction upon themselves and those who follow them

The craziest part is these false teachers knew the truth, and even followed Jesus faithfully at one time (2 Peter 2:20–21).

For us, Proverbs 26:11 has two big applications:

1. We should see our sin like we see a dog’s vomit—gross!
2. We should be wary of false teaching that leads us away from the truth to embrace lies.

Where do you need to change your view of sin and wandering from the truth, today?