April Fools

I couldn't let April fool's day go by without a short study on foolishness. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 has a lot to say about this:
"I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, 'I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas.' So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe.
"...God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to sham those who are powerful..."
(1 Cor 1:18 - 21, 27, NLT)

Today, I think of Jesus, the biggest fool of them all. He gave up perfection, oneness with God the Father, and all the splendor of heaven to take on the form of humanity. He was despised, ridiculed, tortured and crucified to redeem a fallen race. He took a risk that was simply foolish, and he conquered death to save you and me.

Today, I promise to be as foolish as I can: to turn the other cheek when others take advantage of me, to be forgiving, to look to the benefit of others instead of my own selfishness, to reach out in love to the unlovable, and to seek peace instead of revenge. Can you join me in this foolishness?