Have You Been Fooled?

April 3, 2008

This past Monday was April Fool’s Day. I heard a news story about the top 100 April Fool’s hoaxes of all time! Here is one that was mentioned…

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

It is amazing how easily we are fooled. In the case of the dear woman who reported that she and her eleven friends had floated around the room, she was really fooled. Have you ever been fooled? Most of us have and most of us more than once.Jesus warned us…“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) To be wise as serpents reminds us that serpents are cautious in avoiding danger. We need to practice situational awareness. One area that comes to my mind is related to teachings we hear in the name of Christianity. Just because it is on television does not make it true. Just because a “minister” says it does not make it true. We need to make sure that what we are hearing is based on what the Bible says and what it means. If we do not ask those questions- what does it say in the Bible and what does it mean we may find ourselves and our friends floating around the room!