April Fool

Every year on April 1st, jokesters try to ambush gullible friends, relatives and fellow workers into believing nonsense and then say, "April Fool!" The day evidently began in the 1500s when news of a major calendar change either reached people late or was rejected altogether. Improperly celebrating a given event could make one a fool. But the Bible has prior claim on definitions and descriptions.

The word "fool" is found about 66 times in the Bible. It variously means "silliness," "stupid," "wicked," "perverse," or, in the New Testament, "to be frothing at the mouth," "dull" or "a blockhead." Adding the words "foolish"and" foolishly," there are countless more variations of meanings including "silly talk," "fat,""slack," "moronic," etc.

Evidently being a fool or foolish is extremely common for God's Word to address the problems of requently. Confining April Fool's to a singly day minimizes the problem and lets people off the hook. Biblically, folks can be fools any day of any month by going askew from God's norms. Let me list a few examples.

Saul - "…I have played the fool and erred exceedingly" (1 Sam 26:21). His sin was pursuing a righteous man and failing to see God's ultimate plan.

The atheist - "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good" (Psalm 14:1). His problem was imagining himself as a mortal filling the whole universe which, if possible, would have made himself God , so very self-contradictory.

The rich man - "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'" (Luke 12:20). His problem was stashing away wealth for years to come but ignorant of imminent death. He was ready to live, but he was unprepared to die.

The supreme folly is ignoring God's wisdom for life and death. Proverbs 14:9 says, "Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor." Years ago, martyred missionary Jim Elliott left behind this wise legacy: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

As Easter approaches, shedding foolish ignorance of Jesus Christ's greatest victory is a worthy task. After His resurrection, Christ spoke to travelers on the road to Emmaus. "Then He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?' And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:25-27).

This year, Wednesday, April 1st is trumped by Easter Sunday, April 12th.

David Virkler