Thoughts From 2 Peter - Day 15

 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” 2 Peter 2:20-22

          My son's family just bought a puppy and the unfortunate thing is it suffers from coprophagia - it eats its poop. They say 1 in 4 dogs will do it but not only is it gross, it exposes them and those in proximity to illnesses, so you want to stop it. Why do dogs do this?

     1. It is not getting enough food or proper nourishment

     2. Instinct - pack behavior of canines passed down

     3. Modeled behavior - as their mom cleaned up after them as pups, the pups can learn that behavior

     4. Boredom - not stimulated enough

     5. Like the taste

     6. Curiosity

     7. Attention seeking

   Peter compares believers who have been delivered from the bondage of sin by the gospel and yet return to the world and abandon the faith, as dogs returning to their vomit or in my family's case - a dog returning to its poop.

       Imagine owning a steak house and every night you see a homeless person eating out of your trash bin. At first you want to shoo them away but then your heart goes out to them, and you invite them into the restaurant at closing every night to serve them a meal. They do this for a while but eventually stop coming and you wonder why until you see them out back eating out of the dumpster again. Why? They could have a feast with the owner every night, yet they choose to eat garbage. Lest you think this is a rare occurrence, 70% of your youth group will return to the dumpster. Why? Maybe for the reasons of coprophagia.

        What can we do to keep this from happening? First realize that their instinct or old man is drawing them back in. They've developed a taste for sin and they need to acquire a new taste. They need to taste and see that the Lord is good and that the Word is sweet as honey. They need to be nourished with the word and not just fed, although small group feeding is essential, but they need to acquire food on their own. A mentor needs to model how to study God's word to them. Also boredom and loneliness can lead to sin so a group of believers need to hang out on a regular basis to avoid boredom, isolation, or attention seeking from the wrong types. Any discipleship training has to incorporate these things although the devil will definately pluck that young seedling.