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The Bible has a lot to say about the fool. A great study to do sometime is just simply read all the verses containing “fool.” Interesting and very insightful and challenging. But perhaps the most commonly quoted verse(s) about the fool are Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 which both say “The fool has said in his heart ‘there is no God.’”

There has been a movement, somewhat jokingly I think, to rename April 1 “Atheist Day” because of these verses. In my mind it is foolish to say there is not a God. To me, there is too much proof that He is.

But in studying these verses recently, I found out that the two words “there is” do not exist in the original Hebrew text. The verse could actually be translated, possibly more accurately, “The fool has said in his heart “No God.”

So it is not that the fool does not believe in God’s existence, but rather that knowing He exists, says “no” to Him. It is a little harder to point fingers at the “fool” when you see it this way. This one hits home for all of us I think. How many times has God challenged you or called you to do something that went against your comfort or your personality and you have said “No God.”? How many times has God called you to help someone in need and you have said “No God.”? How many times has God convicted you of a habit and called for your repentance and you have said “No God.”? How many times has God told you to give something away (money, time, or posessions) and you have said “No God.”? How about forgiveness? God has said forgive and yet we say “No God, they hurt me too bad. They don’t deserve forgivneness.” God has said to us to obey our spiritual leaders and authorities (Pastors). And yet when those leaders call us to an act of obedience and challenge us greatly, we have said “No God, I don’t agree with that. I don’t want to to that.”

The Holman Old Testament Commentary says of this “fool”: “To be sure, he is not an intellectual atheist, denying the existence of God, but a practical atheist, living as if there were no God.”

This April Fools Day, make a change. Decide to no longer be a fool. Let this be the day you say “Yes, God.” “Yes to whatever, whenever, however, whoever, wherever, no matter what it costs me because You are God.”

“The tragedy of life and of the world is not that men do not know God; the tragedy is that, knowing Him, they still insist on going their own way.” – William Barclay