In his play, “As You Like It,” Shakespeare wrote, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Sounds like everyone’s some kind of fool!

I recall hearing of a man who walked the streets of Glasgow, Scotland, with a sandwich board. On the front it said, “A Fool For Christ.” On the back, “Whose Fool Are You?”

The Bible has a fair bit to say about fools, two types in particular. One kind appears to be foolish because they take God’s Word seriously. The other kind are foolish because they don’t.

America, having just celebrated its 250th birthday, is in serious need of more fools of the first kind and considerably fewer of the other.

Unfortunately, we’re seeing an increase of the ones David described: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1)

Why does God consider atheists fools? To categorically say God doesn’t exist, you must know everything and be everywhere, otherwise God could be outside your range of knowledge or travel. And how do we describe God? The One who is everywhere and knows everything! To prove there’s no God, you’d have to be God, making that position pure folly.

But there’s a more common type of fool today. Jesus told the story of a man who had been successful in farming. “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’

“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?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:18-21)

As G.K. Chesterton opined, “To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it.” And you’re a special kind of foolish if you imagine your soul can be satisfied with gourmet groceries. Every soul has a hunger that only Christ can fill.

On the other hand, think of a man who enlists his three sons to build a large boat a long way from water. He tells his neighbors to take the flood warnings seriously. “Really, Noah?” they reply with a smirk. He’d seem the biggest fool around – until the rain started.

It’s this sort of supposed fool our country needs now, people who take God so seriously that most others don’t take them seriously. That’s what Paul meant when he said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake.” (1 Corinthians 4:10)

John Tillotson explained, “He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever.”

Superficially, the gospel seems ridiculous. Abandon all claims of goodness, and cling as a hopeless sinner to the Savior who died and rose again, defeating death in the process. Trusting Him, you’re safe forever.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”(1:18)
In other words, you’ll know it’s true when it happens to you.

Jabe Nicholson has temporarily stopped in Starkville on his way to heaven. One shout and he’s out! Reach him at [email protected] or visit www.uplook.tv