I have two good friends who are brothers. When the older of the two brothers turned 18, he exercised his new legal freedom by buying a lottery ticket at the corner store. His younger brother, appalled that his big brother had so quickly turned to gambling asked to see the lottery ticket. His proud older brother handed him the paper. Whereupon the younger brother did what any loving, caring sibling would do to stop his beloved brother’s slide into decadence — he stuffed the paper in his own mouth, then chewed and swallowed it. You see, friends don’t let friends play the lottery.
The estimated payout for tomorrow’s Powerball jackpot is 1.4 billion dollars! Someone, with the correct numbers, could win this huge prize. I can tell you right now that the winner won’t be me. I will not be buying that ticket. And, while I won’t be stopping over to ingest your ticket if you chose to buy one, here are some Biblical principals I would ask you to consider before you take your dollars to the store.
- The Principle of Trust — Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Consider the story of Abraham. (Genesis 16-17) God had come to Abraham and promised him a son in his old age. As Abraham and his wife Sarah got older and still did not see the promise being fulfilled, they had an idea. A very bad idea. They decided that Abraham should take a servant as a concubine and have the son through her. They lost their trust in God. They did not believe that God really would supply the promised son, Isaac.
God’s plan for us does not require us to use “sketchy” means to fulfill it. If God wants you to be a billionaire, He can certainly work that out for you. He is the King of the universe, and all riches are ultimately His. Perhaps, He doesn’t want you to be a billionaire. Perhaps his plan is better than that. Trust God to meet your needs in His righteous ways.
2. The Principle of Stewardship — Luke 16:10-13 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Consider the parable of the talents. (Matthew 25:14-30) In the parable of the talents, a merchant went away and left some stewards in charge. He gave one man 5 talents of money, which he traded and used to make 5 talents more. The master was pleased with that. The second steward was given two talents of money, which he traded and used to make 2 talents more. The master was pleased with that, also. The third steward was given one talent, which he buried in the ground. When this man handed back to the master the one talent, the master was not pleased. The third steward did not obey his master and use what he was given to produce more. He did not do the work that was entrusted to him.
Now, what if there was a fourth steward? What if the fourth steward was given one talent, and he did not trade it to make another talent? What if he did not even bury this talent in the ground in order to at least maintain the value of that one talent? What if he took that one talent and bought a powerball ticket with that talent… a ticket that carried the odds of 1 chance in 292 million of winning? Now, when the master returns, even the one talent that was given is gone. How do you think the master would respond to this hypothetical fourth servant who not only did not work to earn more for his master, but speculated the money away at insanely unfavorable odds?
God expects us to be faithful with the money that he has already given us to use it for the good of our families, his church, and his kingdom. Be faithful with that couple of dollars that God has given you. Trust Him to know when to trust you with more.
3. The Principle of Investing in the Kingdom — Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Consider the story of the widow who brought her two small copper coin, or mites, into the temple. Luke 21:1-4
This woman brought all the money she had– her last two coins to the temple. Now, what if, right next to the temple collection box, there was a stand selling lottery tickets for 2 copper mites. She could then reason something like this… “I only have 2 mites. If I give it to the temple, it really won’t do anyone any good. Two small coins won’t make a dent in the priest’s salary, won’t buy any new windows for the temple, and won’t even feed a poor person for one meal. However, for 2 mites I can buy a lottery ticket. If I win, then I could give half of my 1.4 billion mites (2.8 billion copper coins) to the temple, and keep half for myself! I would never be hungry again, my rent would be paid. And, just imagine the new priest robes and temple adornments. With that kind of money, all the poor in Jerusalem could come and get food for years to come.”
If that woman had won the mite lottery and given half to the temple, she would have given so, so much less than what she actually gave. Jesus said that she, by giving ALL she had, gave more than any of the rich who gave at the temple that day. They all gave a portion of their riches, but she gave everything she had. Her reward will be eternal. Her treasure is laid up in heaven.
If you want to get an astronomical return on your investment, give your money to the Lord.
4. The Principle of Being Like Christ — Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Consider the example of Jesus
When God became flesh and walked this earth as man, he could have chosen any position in life. He could have chosen a rich, kingly lifestyle from which to call his followers. But, he did not. He was born into a poor family, and then chose even greater poverty during his earthly ministry. He had so little that when it came time to pay temple taxes, he did not have the money readily available. Matthew 17:24-27 He sent the fisherman, Peter, to the sea to catch a fish. Jesus told Peter that the fish would have a coin in its mouth of large enough value to pay the temple tax for both of them.
Jesus is the omniscient one. He knows where all the money in the universe is. He can have fish spit out the exact amount of money that you need to pay your taxes. But, he cared so little for money when he was here. He did not have the fish cough up two coins, just the amount that was necessary. How can we strive to be like Jesus, while pursuing a goal of obtaining millions or billions of dollars that we have not earned or deserved?
Do you really want great gain? I Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain,” The Bible gives us the formula for great gain… godliness (being like Christ) and contentment (satisfaction with what God has given us).
Several years ago, in Cincinnati, I read a newspaper article about a family in the area that won millions in the lottery. Just a few short years later, their life story was a heart-breaking tragedy containing divorce, drug addiction, estrangement with relatives, squander, and even murder. If you do an online search for lottery winner tragedies, you will find that this is not an uncommon happening when an ordinary person suddenly has millions.
The God we serve has our best interests at heart. Trust Him.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
With Joy,
Kathleen
I think we can apply some of these principles to more than just financial. It has become clear to me that as a society we want to get a lot with spending little. We want to go to Church and be amused by a show. We want to make lots of friends without putting in any effort to do so. (Expecting all the effort to be on the friend) We want to have Joy from Christ but try and hide it under a bushel because letting it shine takes work. As silly as it seems having a proper mentality on something as small as a powerball ticket if applied properly to our lives could have far more effect than 1.5 Billion dollars.
P.s. that lottery ticket did not taste very well…
James, You bring up some very good points. We do live in a society/mentality of getting something for nothing or little, while the Bible teaches that rewards are earned, the faith is strived for, endurance for the long haul is required. Thanks for your reply, (and for providing the story to start this post….)