What’s wrong with wanting to win 650 million pesos?

“Grand Lotto jackpot reaches P650 M for today's draw”.  This was the headline of an article in the Philippine Star website.  No need to read the rest of the article, that headline is enough to get people to start coming up with their own set of number combinations, save up for their bets, and go straight to the Lotto stations, and wait anxiously (or peacefully) for the results.  And, if they’re lucky enough they may either be the sole winner, or one of the winners of 650 million pesos!

Wow, imagine what 650 million pesos can do!  You’ll be an instant millionaire.  You can pay all your bills, take care of the tuition fees of your children until college, buy new things, have the latest gadgets, new car, everything we want right in the palm of our hands!  Wow!  Hey, I have to confess, when I read the headline my imagination started running wild!

So, what’s wrong with wanting to win 650 million pesos?  What’s wrong with investing a few pesos in buying a ticket and hoping to get some winnings?  I know that this is a question that is bothering a lot of Christians today who believe, or who have been taught but don’t believe, that gambling is a sin.  Is it wrong for a Christian to buy a lotto ticket and hope they win?  The usual excuse is – anyway if I win I can tithe to the church, we can build a building, and get everything we want for the church! (As if building the church is about having a building and having hi-tech equipment and materials).

First, and foremost, have you ever noticed where the focus is when it comes to winning the lotto jackpot?  It’s in the jackpot, in the winning, in everything that we could do if we had all that money!  Where is God in all this?  He’s in the background.  He’s the one the better prays to hoping that God would allow him to win.  And when He doesn’t our hearts silently complain that He’s unfair, wondering why He would allow an unbeliever to win instead of His child!  That’s not trust. That’s not dependence.  That’s using God to get what you want.  That’s thinking that God is someone who is sitting on the throne and deciding whether or not He will give you the winnings, or give it to someone else.  That’s not God – at least not the God of the Bible.

Allow me to share some passages of Scripture which will show us the danger of being attracted to riches:

1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NIV)
9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

That’s what it is, plain and simple – a love of money.  Someone who wants to get rich falls into many temptations and traps that get him into trouble eventually.  A Christian who wants to get rich falls into temptations also, the simplest being the temptation to pray only to get rich, and nothing else.  There’s no desire to serve in the church, no desire to give to missions, no desire to be part of God’s plan for His church, His kingdom.  All he thinks of is getting rich.  And he uses God in the process.  Sad.

Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

If we think our life now is so tiring and unfulfilling because we don’t have a lot of money, then we’ve missed the whole point of the Christian life.  Life, true life, has never been about the abundance of our possessions.  A Christian’s life is centered, and founded, on Christ and His Word.  This is what gives him life.

Sometimes we don’t realize how strong greed can be, and how it can control our decisions and desires.  In another verse greed is considered idolatry – something people worship.  Colossians 3:5 (NIV) 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Are we committing idolatry without realizing it?

Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV)
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Restraint.  There are people who will wear themselves out just to get rich.  They will spend their strength on work, their business (or monkey-business), in corruption, immorality, crime, etc., just to get rich.  Lining up in lotto stations is included.

Where should a Christian be spending his/her strength on?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

What race are we running?  What prize are we longing for?  The more important question will be – what prize does God want us to be running for?  It’s the prize of eternal life, living forever with Him.  We forget that our life here is just temporary, and we should be preparing for our eternity with God.

Is life about having a lot of money?  Is it about living a life of comfort?  Or is it about a life of contentment?

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Maybe it’s about enjoying what we have, and not about complaining about what we don’t have. Maybe it’s not about hoping our children study in expensive schools, but in their learning even in schools that are not that expensive and even “unknown”.  Maybe it’s about having just the essentials in life, and being content with it.  Life is about trusting in God, that He will never forsake us or leave us, and He will provide for all that we need, and that He has our future in His hands.  Our life is about knowing God, that He is with us, that He is faithful, that He is our Shepherd, and that goodness and love will follow us all the days of our life – no matter how much money we have.

I know not all who read this will agree with me.  So come up with your own number combination, and line up in the Lotto stations if you want.  But remember, who your God is today in your life is who He will be (or not be) in eternity.  And if He is not your Lord, your Master and the Provider of everything, and if He is not the focus, the center, the very reason we live – well, you may just be spending eternity with someone else.