April Fools
My youngest daughter was very excited to wake up this morning and tell us that we should be getting a call from the school time now saying that classes would be cancelled for the day. When I asked her why she said because of the snow we got last night. I got up to look out the window, knowing it was April Fool’s Day, to hear her start laughing hysterically and shouting, “April Fool’s Day!” Even the mere thought that our kids would be missing another day due to snow this year is not funny on multiple levels.
While April Fool’s Day is a time for children to play innocent pranks on their parents actually being a fool in life is not a funny thing. The scriptures actually have a lot of things to say about being a fool and none of them are good, Psalm 14:1 tells us, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” When an individual believes there is no God that belief will impact every part of life.
In Matthew 7: 24-27 Jesus tells us a parable about two men. The wise man built his house on a rock and the foolish man built his house upon sand. When the rains fell and the storms raged the house built on the rock remained standing while the house built on the sand fell and was destroyed. The meaning of this parable is quite easy to understand. Each person is building a life and we need to have a proper foundation if our life is going to remain firm during troublesome times. If we look at verse 24 we find that in order to have a proper foundation we not only need to hear the words of Jesus but we need to do them, or put them into practice. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house on a rock.”
The reality is that life can be difficult. Just because you are a Christian does not mean that life will be easy, but it does mean that if your foundation is built upon Christ you will be able to weather the storms. When troublesome times come, when the report from the doctor isn’t what we expected, when relationship issues get out of control, when the grade on the exam wasn’t what you needed, remember Psalm 119: 105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light onto my path.” God’s word will show you the way, provide you with comfort, and give you hope.
Pasto Tom