You may have discovered last week that at this time of the year some people get caught up in participating in April Fool’s Day or get called an April fool.  April 1 is the official day to play pranks or spread hoaxes, and even some newspapers, television programs, and magazines get involved by publishing fake stories and then correct them the next day.  Unfortunately, some in the news media today publish fake stories on a regular basis, but never correct themselves because they seem to enjoy fooling the public.

The situation has become bad enough that it is difficult anymore to determine what is true and what is not true in the media these days.  The famous poet named Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear.  A man named Chris Daughtry came up with his own version by saying, “Believe half of what you see and only some of what you hear, unless you hear it from me. “

“Words from Above” tell us that we can definitely believe it if we read it in the Word of God, and if Jesus said it.  If someone tries to tell us what they think the Bible says, we need to follow the example of some people the apostle Paul wrote about in Acts 17.  We are told there that when he and Silas went to the city of Thessalonica to preach the gospel, they met with opposition and had to leave suddenly for fear of their lives.  They went by night to a nearby city called Berea and there they again preached in the synagogue, which was a Jewish house of worship.

Paul spoke well of them, and said about them that they “were more noble than the people in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether what he preached was true.”  It is always a good policy to see for ourselves whether something is actually in the Bible when someone makes a claim that  it is in there. 

The very first words of instruction that God spoke to the first man and woman He created related to not eating fruit from a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden.  Satan quickly approached the woman and ended up telling her that she had misunderstood what God had said.  Now believers have the benefit of the Holy Spirit of God guiding us into all truth so that we don’t get fooled by the devil.  The Holy Spirit knows what the Bible says because He was the one who inspired it.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.