PORTLAND, OREGON (ANS) -- In many parts of the world, April 1 is known as April Fools' Day. It always reminds me of Jesus talking about the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21). In contrast to what some claim, Scripture is quite clear that the Lord has nothing against those who are wealthy. Still, wealth can go to our heads, cloud what's true, and make us bumbling fools if we're not careful.

If we've learned anything the past six months, it's that temporal wealth is just that--temporal. It can be here today, gone tomorrow. Again, Scripture is clear: Let's hold wealth lightly, as a gift from God. And as a gift, let's use it and give it away and do things that matter for eternity while we can.

After all, Jim Elliot was right: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

What many people don't know is that Jim's older brother, Bert Elliot, left for the mission field three years before Jim did. Bert and his wife, Colleen, have given their entire adult lives to serving the Lord in Peru, South America.

Among their many accomplishments the past six decades, Bert and Colleen have planted well over 100 churches in the Amazon jungles, Andes mountains, and coastal desert regions of Peru. On many occasions, they've risked their lives.

On one such occasion Bert and I were walking along a jungle path when he told me, "I expect to leave Peru with a bullet in my head." Little did we know that the Shining Path terrorists had just signed a pact with the drug lords in those very jungles. Among other things, they put a price on Bert's head. Less than three days later they attacked the jungle town where Bert and I had left our wives.

Thankfully, God spared their lives. But I quickly learned that it isn't always hard to become a martyr. What's much harder is living for God with one's whole being for one's whole life. Then and there, I made a commitment to do just that.

On Saturday, April 25, Bert is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.

He is no fool, indeed. 

David Sanford is a widely published author, editor, and literary agent. His newest book is If God Disappears: 9 Faith Wreckers and What to Do about Them (SaltRiver, Tyndale House Publishers).