Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Mt. 7:26

No one really knows the origins of April Fools’ Day for sure, but one thing is for sure—it is a day celebrated worldwide with practical jokes. One of the best media driven practical jokes occurred in 1957 when BBC broadcaster, Richard Dimbleby, featured a spoof documentary on spaghetti crops in Switzerland. The program followed a family carrying their annual spaghetti harvest and women picking strands of spaghetti from a tree to dry in the sun. The BBC was flooded with calls from people wanting to know where they could buy their own spaghetti plant. Fooled again.

While most practical jokes on April Fools’ Day make people who are caught in the joke look foolish, Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders was no joke. Building without a proper foundation is a fool’s errand in any language. Jesus made it abundantly clear that failing to put His teaching into practice was the same thing as a foolish man building a house on sand.

Reading this passage again this week, I was impacted by the words, “puts them into practice.” Ouch! How many times have I left church after being convicted, or read an author who zeroed in on a biblical truth, or gotten up from a discussion group and failed to put any of it into practice? Jesus says that makes me a fool.

Jesus didn’t teach to impress people with his communication skills. He didn’t offer nice sounding, optional platitudes. He doesn’t play practical jokes, like fooling us into thinking spaghetti grows on trees, to get a good laugh at our expense. Jesus came to testify to the truth. His words are words of life. When he speaks, a choice must be made. Will we embrace the truth and put it into practice, or not. Choosing not to put it into practice is the choice of a fool. Jesus said it, not me.

As a grandfather, I want my grandchildren to see a life worth imitating, not only because I practice what I preach, but because I put into practice what Jesus preaches. How about you? Is your head full of knowledge about the truth, but little evidence that you put any of it into practice? Do you have notebooks filled with notes from Bible teachers or your own Bible study, but little of it written on your heart?

Hypocrisy is one of the primary reasons young people turn away from the faith today. I think it’s time to take away that excuse by putting God’s Word into practice. Let’s show the next generations of the world what an authentic follower of Christ looks like. Let’s build a wise man’s house and leave the foolishness to the practical jokesters of April Fool’s Day.