Children–and adults–love April Fools’ pranks. At least, some adults do.
No one seems to know how April Fools’ Day originated. It appears to have something to do with the spring of the year and the need to laugh.
The best April Fools’ prank I ever experienced occurred when Martha and I were dating. We are high school sweethearts and grew up within a mile of one another. Early on, Martha’s grandmother lived with Martha and her mother.
Martha’s grandmother baked wonderful fried pies. It was one of those desserts everyone wanted to experience. On April 1 of one of those years, I dropped by Martha’s house. Her grandmother was seated in the den and there was a plate of fried pies on the table.
Immediately Martha offered me one of her grandmother’s pies and held it up for me to bite. I eagerly took a bite but found myself in a no win situation. It couldn’t be eaten.
She had fried a pie with cotton on the inside. No matter how hard I pulled, I couldn’t bite off a piece.
What made the joke so good was that Martha’s grandmother rarely talked to me at all. She wasn’t a person who laughed much and she certainly didn’t pull practical jokes.
Neither Martha nor I have ever forgotten that April Fools’ Day. We never did figure out how you bake a fried pie with cotton in the middle.
I am reminded that God’s Word also speaks about “fools” and “foolishness.”
God uses the foolishness of preaching (in the eyes of those who are perishing) to confound the wise of this world. In that sense, you want to be a part of that which seems foolish but is really the wisdom of God.
The second sense is one of eternal sadness. “The fool has said in his heart: ‘there is no God’ ” (Psalm 14:1). The “Rich Fool” allowed his possessions to own him and missed eternal life with God. God addressed him and said: “‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:20-21).
May we be people who know how to laugh and enjoy life, and may we be people who know God and experience the quality life that only He can provide.
I write a blog like this on a daily basis. If you would like to receive the blog, go to waylonbailey.com and subscribe at the top of the page. It’s a free service.
2 Responses
I was thinking about this just a short while ago. How the idea of God and his creation is foolishness to the unbeliever and how everything makes perfect sense to His believers. That’s what this world does to the unbeliever. How do we reach these people? Only by the grace of God and our intervention at His guidance. Thank you Father for allowing us to be a part of Your Family. May all glory be to God.
Scott, thanks for commenting. We truly must be sensitive to the person who doesn’t believe. He is in a hard place. We don’t want him to be there for eternity.