It’s April 1st! A day known for harmless jokes and pranks. Have you ever wondered how this tradition came to be? Well, the most common explanation of how April Fools Day came to be involves France’s transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. When France made the change, the start of the new year moved to January 1st after having been previously celebrated from the last week of March through April 1. People who failed to adapt to the change immediately became known as “April fools” and became the subjects of jokes and pranks.
The targets of such pranks were referred to as “poisson d’avril” or “April fish” and often had paper fish placed on their backs to symbolize a young, easily caught, gullible fish. They evolved from April fish to April fools.
The Bible has a bit to say about fools as in Psalm 53:1, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” So, from just these two verses we can see that a fool thinks he knows it all and doesn’t need God.
There are many verses that describe foolish behavior in God’s Word. I encourage you to “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm!” Proverbs 13:20. God bless, Courtney