Everyone Plays a Fool

Today is called April Fool’s Day. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes that are played on family, friends, and other people. The goal is to embarrass the gullible. The challenge is to be discerning and to be able to know whether someone is telling you the truth or not. The only problem - we need to be as alert on the other 364 days a year as we are today. We can be a fool on any day, if we are not. Really though, a fool isn’t someone who is just gullible. A fool is someone who knows what is right and chooses to do wrong anyway. Here are some scriptures to help us from becoming a fool:

• He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said (Job 2:10).
• Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple (Job 5:2).
• The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good (Psalm 14:1).
• The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7).
• The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice (Proverbs 12:15).
• It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel (Proverbs 20:3).
• A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control (Proverbs 29:11).
• “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matt 7:24-27).
• But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself (Proverbs 6:32 NLT).
• A fool despises a parent’s discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise (Proverbs 15:5 NLT).

The best way to not to be played a fool is to fear the Lord, because it is the beginning of wisdom.