I was plotting an elaborate story of some kind that would draw each of my readers in and then shock them with the truthful words, “April Fools.” Upon further consideration, I was afraid that some would not click the “read more” and it would be like the War of the Worlds radio drama from 1938. I didn’t think I should risk it!
Americans were crowded around their radios listening to Orson Welles announce an alien invasion by Martians in October of 1938. Those who had tuned into the program a little too late believed the account and a small panic occurred. I had planned to announce Jim and my decision to go to the mission field somewhere in Australia. It would have been fun but there would have been a small amount of chaos in our office, so I chose to forego the fun. Besides, who wants to feel like an April Fool?
I was curious about the origin of April Fool’s Day and shocked to find it may have been the church. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull decreeing a new standard calendar for Christian Europe. The date of the New Year was going to be changed from April 1 to January 1. An April Fool became anyone who still celebrated the New Year on April 1st. Those people were subject to pranks and ridicule by the January 1st crowd.
Why do human beings enjoy jokes played on others and having a good laugh at someone else’s expense? I can’t decide if it is fun or mean, maybe because it is a little of both. No one likes to feel like a fool. Which leads me to the point of this blog. We should understand God’s definition of foolishness, and care most about his opinion.
Who would God say is acting as an April Fool, or a fool any day of the year?
Psalm 14:1 – “Fools say in their hearts, There is no God.”
Proverbs 26:4-5 – “Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself. Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.”
Proverbs 26:11 – “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly.”
Isaiah 32:6 – “For fools speak folly, and their minds plot iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the Lord, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.”
Matthew 7:26-27 – Jesus said, “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 – “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
Who would God define as foolish? The person who thought they were able to skim the verses above, instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to apply them to their heart and life.
John Tillotson said, “He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.” Each of us can help someone leave their path of foolishness and discover the wisdom of God. Here is the part where I don’t say, “April Fools.”
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