Dog Vomit

"A person who returns to their sin is like a dog that returns to its own vomit." 

--Proverbs 26:11

I read that when filmmaker Steven Speilberg and his crew were making the movie Lincoln, they wouldn’t allow anyone who had a British accent to speak on set. The reason for the strict rule was that the actor playing Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis, had changed his accent from his actual British one to an American one in order sound more like the 16th U.S. president.

Photo from life.barkpost.com

The filmmakers didn’t want anyone from Britain to speak around Day-Lewis because if he heard his real accent, could easily slip out of the American voice he was using and back into his natural voice.

The same principle applies to our behavior. We can avoid behaviors that cause negative consequences for a while. Then, when we leave prison, and we encounter people who are involved in the type of behavior we are trying to avoid, it can seem like we were never gone. There's a magnetic force pulling us back to that sin. 

The temptation to dive back in is appealing and the willpower to fight the temptation is weak. The familiar sounds, smells, sights, and feelings of the past tempt us to repeat our sin. Like a dog returning to its vomit, scripture teaches, we return to our old ways.

When you feel tempted to repeat the same behavior that led to your incarceration, think of that dog eating its own puke. Going back to prison is even worse.

We need to rely on God's Spirit, as Jesus did, to help us defeat temptation. In Romans 8, Paul teaches us that it's through the power of the Spirit that we are able to resist sin. 

We also need to pray for God's Spirit to prepare us for temptation. None of us should ever be surprised when temptation shows up one day ringing the doorbell, calling on the phone, or sits right down on the couch. 

By the time temptation presents itself, you should have expected it. The Spirit of God works in the moment, but it also works in preparation. Don't let the opportunity to repeat your sin surprise you, because that opportunity will be available and you may not even need to go looking for it. 

If you let temptation creep on you like you're some type of clueless victim in a horror movie, than your chances of making it through aren't great. But if you expect temptation and prepare for it and have your game plan ready, you are much more likely to succeed. 

A preacher friend of mine once said; "Never let temptation become a conversation." If we start trying to justify a sinful behavior, that's a warning sign that we need to get as far away from that behavior as possible.