Has anyone ever pulled an April Fool’s joke on you? Most of us have fallen victim to some practical joke at some time in our lives. They can be funny, or in bad taste, but they are commonly done. The sad fact is, however, that we don’t have to wait until April 1st to have a “fool’s day” occur in our life.
Obviously, it a “fool’s day” when anyone declares his/her disbelief in God. The Scriptures say, “the fool has said in his heart there is no God.” For many, every day is a day dedicated to the foolishness that we humans are alone, the ultimate of all existence and that there is no God.
However, one who believes in God is still going to have fool’s days in life:
When we forget how much God has blessed us and decide to complain. The Israelites were a murmuring people in the wilderness, despite having seen the great power of God. Their foolishness brought on the wrath of God, and caused them to wander for 40 years.
When we allow Satan to win even the small battles in our lives. We are fools when we rationalize and convince ourselves that it is really not that bad to do what we know is not right in the sight of God. We can be like the little boy who winds up with his tongue stuck to a metal flag pole on an icy, cold day; he let his friends talk him into it, and he was a fool for doing so.
When we do not express to our loved ones how much we love them. I may be busy right now, but I may never get another chance. We never need to put ourselves in the situation that, if something happened to a loved one, we would remember harsh words spoken as we parted, or even no words at all. We are acting foolishly if we don’t tell those we love that we love them.
When we allow our speech to hurt and even destroy others. As James indicated, we all have to fight the tongue. How many times have I said something and immediately wished I could take it back? How often have I made a fool out of myself by ill-timed and unbeneficial words that I have spoken?
When we don’t take advantage of the blessings found in Jesus Christ. If we do not deny God’s existence, we can still prove ourselves to be fools if we reject the wonderful grace that God has extended to us through Jesus. It is foolish to be so close to salvation, yet to be lost because we just would not listen to Him.
We could go on and on about things that we do or allow that make us fools. We need to be striving for wisdom and to overcome our own innate foolishness. The old fashioned cure for foolishness: studying God’s Word, worshipping Him, loving Him and His people, prayer, and dedication to the Truth. We will sometimes falter and “act the fool,” but our prayer should be for wisdom, and we should strive to have as few “Fool’s Days” as possible.
