What does it Take to be a Foolish Person?

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (Matthew 7:26 NKJV)

April Fools Day

Most of you will be reading this on or about April Fools Day, that is on April 1.  From my research, the exact origins of April Fools Day is uncertain, but, as is the case with many of our celebrations, it may be associated with the first day of spring when day and night are of equal lengths (and thus with a pagan celebration).  Some think that the day recognizes the unpredictable spring weather which tends to “fool” us.  However, the day should remind us that the Bible often distinguishes between the wise and the foolish.  There were five wise virgins and five foolish virgins waiting for the bridegroom’s return in Matthew 25.  We also read about those who think they are wise but who are really foolish in Romans 1.  These are people who do not see God manifesting Himself in creation.

The Fool vs The Wise

In the Psalms we are reminded twice that the fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1.  When something is repeated in the Bible, it is because of its importance.  Our meditation today compares the wise person  who built his or her house (life) on a rock (Christ) verses the foolish person who built his or her house (or life) on the sand (which represents almost anything other than the truth of Scripture).  I find it interesting that we don’t question who wrote most books if the author is named, however, even though God says He is speaking in the Bible, many people question the inspiration of the Scriptures.  Why is that?  I think it is because we don’t like what God tells us about sin and judgment and heaven and hell.  On the other hand, God makes it quite clear that eternal life is available to the believer in Christ.  Eternal life is a life from eternity which lasts throughout eternity.  Eternal life has quantity and quality.  From everything I read, it is going to be more enjoyable than any vacation we have ever taken.  

Avoiding Risk

I talk to people who have a lot of reasons for rejecting the Bible, but being a risk averter myself, I have always felt that logically there is everything to lose and nothing to gain by rejecting the truth of the Bible.  Not only that but the reasonable person who reads the Bible for themselves will find that there are many reasons to believe that it is one of God’s ways of communicating with us.  Because it is written we don’t have to worry about oral messages from God that may be forgotten and misinterpreted.  But we do need to be careful when so-called scholars interpret the Bible in such a way as to make the rest of us question its validity.  The Bible is the foundation of my belief in God and in His way of salvation.  

I have built my “world view” and my “view for eternity” on the Rock Christ Jesus.  I hope you have too.  Finding out that there is a real hell of eternal punishment after we die that could have been avoided by simply trusting in the foundational truth of Scripture is not going to be an April Fool’s joke. 

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of March 29, 2026

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.