A Dog's Vomit

Proverbs 27:22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.

The problem with the fool is that he needs a new nature. Discipline and hardship alone will not suffice to remove his folly from him.

In order for that to happen, there must be at least a kernel of what God calls good inside him. Buffing will never turn a lump of coal into a diamond. But if you begin with a diamond, no matter how rough it may be, good cutting and buffing will produce a jewel of great price. A fool must be changed from within in order for discipline and hardship to profit him.

So we see that the prodigal son, though very prodigal, was still a son, and not a fool. The grinding of circumstance brought him to his senses, and he returned to his father's house. Even in his lost state, the likeness of his father's features could still be seen in him, and the fact that he turned and went home after disciplining proved him to be a son indeed.

Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

After testing, our genuine natures are revealed: a fool remains a fool, but a son turns and becomes a son.

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O Lord, do I continue in my folly? or do I profit from your discipline? If I profit, then all is well, though You grind me long and hard. But if I remain a fool, Lord, then save me by Your good grace, and give me a new heart and nature, one of Your own making, bearing Your likeness within. Lord, I would not remain a fool, though I be one now. I turn to You, my good Lord, for Your grace. Amen.