April Fools’ Day is commonly associated with good-hearted jokes and pranks between friends and family. The tradition is thought to have begun under King Charles IX of France during the late 1500’s, spreading through Europe and then to Colonial America.
Webster’s Dictionary defines a fool as “a person who lacks good sense or judgement—a stupid or silly person. Sadly tradition holds that early April Fools’ Day celebrations were marked with public ridicule and humiliation of those people thought to meet this description.
The Biblical View of Fools
The Bible contains a gold mine of wisdom relating to “fools.” There are 66 verses in the Bible using the word fool, and another 133 using it in its various forms. However the Biblical definition of a fool is much different.
Psalms 14:1 reads: “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.” Roman 1:22-23 states “Professing themselves wise, they became fools and changed the glory of an incorruptible God into an image made to look like corruptible man.”
The Biblical definition of a fool in no way implies a lack of intelligence or reason—quite the contrary, in fact. The Bible defines a fool as one who has said in his heart there is no God.
It is doubtful that a professing believer would dare utter the words that there is no God, but how many of us practically live as though He didn’t exist?
Perhaps we have:
A Secular View of Life
Are we building our lives, hopes, dreams, and values on man’s wisdom and cultures. Do we look first to the secular world for hope and help and not to God? Do we fear the world’s disapproval more that God’s?
A Secular View of Eternity
Are we seeking to find happiness in the here and now rather than investing our time, talent, and treasure in that which is eternal. Everything that we can see, touch, and hold in our hands is temporal and will soon pass away, but the treasure that we lay up in Heaven through our relationships with God and others is eternal.
A Secular view of God
A popular view of God today would have us to believe that He is here to serve us, rather than the other way around. Are our prayers based on what we would do if we were God? Or are our prayers based on the Truth of His Word of how He would advise us in our given situation?
Only Fools Don’t Fear God
Proverbs 1:7 tells us that: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
This verse is repeated several more times in Scripture. It means learning and choosing to view life from God’s perspective. We are to allow our one-on-one personal relationship with Him to become the cornerstone of life as we know it.
We should choose to build our lives, our marriages, our homes according to the blueprint of His Word. We are to consciously strive to live each moment of each day seeking His approval with the thought of His disapproval being our greatest fear.
Developing that wisdom through the fear of the Lord is a lifetime pursuit and discipline that will absolutely guarantee that we will never be anybody’s fool.