April Fool!

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32


Did you get anybody "good" for April Fools? This year, I was too busy, with it being Sunday and all, but I have a great triumph which occurred some time back. A few weeks before this particular April 1, we had had a rat get in the house. Not a mouse - a RAT, roughly the size of a wildebeest. I tried to swat it with a broom, might as well have been with spaghetti. Options were discussed - burning down the house with everything in it seemed extreme. Slightly.
So traps and poison were dutifully placed, and soon peace was restored.
Then came the fateful day. My son, then about 6 or 7, wanted to "get" his mother by telling her he saw another "wildebeest", but I thought a more active approach was called for. He and I were in the kitchen, and she was at the other end of the house, but could see and hear us. I squawked, jumped across the room, grabbed the broom and started swatting the floor. I heard a most satisfying squeal, and saw my bride - as genteel and ladylike person as you could ever want to meet - scrambling as high up on the furniture as humanly possible. If she had had any heart defects, I'm certain I would have been a widower that day. And if she had been naturally vengeful, she would have shortly been on trial for her life, although I'm not sure a jury would have convicted her. Isn't there a "Justifiable Homicide" option?
Actually, I'm pretty sure she's forgiven me, but to be on the safe side, I don't talk about it a lot. When I do, I wisely point out the Forgiveness Clause in our faith, since I'm thinking Divine Intervention is a key factor in my continued safety.
Exaggeration? Yeah, a little bit. But there is a Forgiveness Clause, and a pretty important one at that.
“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins. Matthew 6:14-15, NET Bible

With God, mercy is a two way street. Our "heartedness", whether hard or tender, has a direct correlation to His attitude toward us. That's something definitely worth thinking about this Easter season, no "fooling". See you in church!