I am not a fan of April Fool’s day. It’s not that I’m bad at pranks, it’s that I can be too good at them…and then I feel really bad (or is it “badly”) when I scare the mess out of someone.

As a youth pastor, I was leery of pranks because I knew it would always escalate into something bigger than anyone originally intended and would never end well.

Today, is also the day you’ll see things like, “National Athiest Day” with a reference to Psalm 14:1 –

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”

I see two problems with this type of statement. One, nothing says, “I love you” like calling someone a fool. Two, this completely misses what this Psalm is about. Here’s the rest of verse one and verses two and three –

“They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭14:1-3‬

Uh oh. This Psalm has all of us in its cross-hairs.

Today’s Good News is we are all fools when it comes to how we interact with God. There are times in every one of our lives when we live as if there is no God. Thank God for Jesus!

This is why we needed Easter; left to our own way we all will live godless lives.

So, maybe you will have some fun today with a prank or two. That’s fine, just remember what those around us really need is to be loved. And what we all need is a God who knows we’ve all “turned aside” and still “turn aside,” and He loves us anyway.

It’s like the pranks that escalate and get worse and worse. The more we “turn aside” the more we live as if there is no God.

Thankfully, God, in His very essence is love, and His desire is to rescue us. In fact, here is how Psalm 14 ends –

“You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭14:6-7‬

God is not mad at us. He loves us and desires to restore us. Jesus has proven the extent of this love – and that’s Good News!

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