The faithful dog

503 the faithful dogDogs are amazing animals. With their fine sense of smell, they track down survivors in collapsed buildings, find drugs and weapons during police investigations, and some say they can even detect tumors in the human body. There are dogs that can detect the smell of endangered orca whales living on the northwestern coast of the USA. Dogs not only support people through their sense of smell, they also bring comfort or serve as guide dogs.

In the Bible, however, dogs have a bad reputation. Let's face it: they just have some gross habits. When I was a little boy I had a pet dog and he would lick up anything that came up just before, just like a fool who takes pleasure in his own stupid words. "As a dog eats up what it has spit, so is the fool who repeats his folly" (Proverbs 26:11).

Of course, Salomo does not see things from the dog's point of view, and I believe that none of us can. Is it a primeval return to the days when the dog's mother raised her own food to give it to the young puppy, as it does today with African wild dogs? Even some birds do this. Is it just an attempt to digest the undigested food again? I have recently read of an expensive restaurant where the meal is pre-chewed.

From Solomon's point of view, this canine behavior seems repulsive. It reminds him of foolish people. A fool says in his or her heart, "There is no God." (Psalm 53:2). A fool denies the primacy of God in his or her life. Foolish people always go back to their own ways of thinking and living. You repeat the same mistakes. A fool is deluded in his thinking if he believes that the decisions made without God are reasonable. Peter said that anyone who rejects the grace of God and returns to a life not led by the Spirit is like a dog that eats what it spit (2. Petrus 2,22).

So how do we break this vicious circle? The answer is, don't go back to vomiting. No matter what sinful lifestyle we indulge in, let's not go back there. Do not repeat the old patterns of sin. Sometimes bad habits can be trained off dogs, but foolish people will be stubborn and will not listen when warned. Let us not be like a fool who despises wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1,7). Let the Spirit examine us and change us forever so that we no longer feel the need to go back to the familiar. Paul told the Colossians to discard their old ways: “Therefore put to death the members that are on earth, fornication, impurity, shameful passion, evil lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For the sake of such things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. You also once walked in all this when you still lived in it. Now put away everything from you: anger, fury, malice, slander, shameful words out of your mouth" (Colossians 3:5-8). Fortunately, we can learn something from the dogs. My childhood dog always ran after me – in good times and in bad. He let me raise and guide him. Even though we're not dogs, couldn't this be enlightening for us? Let's follow Jesus wherever he leads us. Let Jesus lead you, just as a faithful dog is led by its loving owner. Be faithful to Jesus.

by James Henderson


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