P.T. Barnum is often credited with the saying “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I wanted to know a little more about that quote so I searched it. Seems P.T. wasn’t the purveyor of it after all. A Mr. Hull chiseled out then buried what he called “The Giant.” He then “discovered” it and unearthed it. He displayed it as a petrified man and charged people to see it. A Mr. Hannum paid a high price for it and began to display it, charging even more than Mr. Hull did. Ol’ P.T. came along and tried to buy it and Hannum wouldn’t sell it. So P.T. had his own giant made, displayed it as “The Cardiff Giant” and made money. Mr. Hannum then used his now-famous quote to describe those taken in by Barnum’s statue. Fun fact: Mr. Hannum sued P.T. but in court it came out that the whole trick was conceived by Mr. Hull. So in the long run, Mr. Hannum wound up being the sucker.

We chuckle at the gullibility of people. We wonder how in the world can people be so easily taken in? What isn’t so funny is when people are deceived and suckered by false teachers, gurus, televangelists, i.e. hucksters who convince people to believe their lies. Underneath it all (besides a wolf in sheep’s clothing) we will find there is nothing new under the sun. A lot of it is basically the same old garbage in a new outfit. The same error just repackaged. Tragically, people do the same thing today that their predecessors did: fall hook, line, and sinker into lies. In 2 Cor. 11 Paul calls them “false apostles.” Deceitful workers who disguise themselves. See…second verse same as the first. And we must N-E-V-E-R forget that our enemy (Satan) will disguise himself as an angel of light. Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Father, help me to keep my eyes open to You and to Your Word. Help me to test the spirits to see if they are from You.”