What The Bible Teaches About Gambling

For example, as Christians:

• We can not allow others to do our thinking for us when it comes to deciding what is RIGHT and what is WRONG.

• We can not just ignore these issues we face and hope they will go away.

Through the ages of time, God’s people have had to face difficult situations in society head on. Then they had to take a stand for what they believed would please God, whether it was popular or unpopular.

THE BIBLE

AND GAMBLING

Proverbs 28:20-22, we read, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress. He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”

Also, look at 1 Timothy 6:10, we read, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Notice that Paul said that those who love money have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Can this be documented? Yes, it can in many ways.

Today we are hearing and reading some alarming things about the lottery. We frequently hear about those who have won money in the lottery. They are smiling, and people watching them think, “I wish that I had been the one to win the lottery.”

But while we see them when they win the lottery, we never hear about what happens to them with this cursed money.

For example in “The Detroit News,” an article was written by Ron French. He wrote about the problems of those who have won the lottery.

The article contained the following: The bad news is that you probably won't win tonight's Big Game lottery. The good news is that you may be better off if you don't. Lottery winners typically are no happier swimming in money than when they were broke. Some become embroiled in lawsuits, estranged from family and friends, and divorced from their spouses. One study found that instant millionaires are no happier than recent accident victims. None of which is likely to quell excitement surrounding tonight's jackpot, which soared to $325 million Monday and could surpass the U. S. record $363 million by today's 11 p.m. drawing. More than 23 million tickets are expected to be sold in Michigan for the multistate game, more than two for every man, woman and child in the state.

The dream of becoming rich overnight is carried in wallets and stuck to refrigerators across the state. But at 11:01 p.m., when most of those tickets are thrown in the trash, players can take solace in studies of lottery winners over the past three decades.

Winning the lottery doesn't change people's lives as much as is imagined, said H. Roy Kaplan, author of several books on lottery winners.

Kaplan has interviewed more than 600 winners of more than $1 million, and found that "People's lives don't change radically. You can catapult people from one economic status to another overnight, but a lifetime of beliefs and experiences change more slowly.”

“People who were outgoing and gregarious before winning took it in stride,"

Kaplan said. "People who were shy and withdrawn before winning became suspicious and paranoid."

Most lottery winners keep their jobs, but find their relationship with coworkers changed. Most are inundated with requests for money, both from friends and strangers.

And some find that their lucky day brings them nothing but bad luck.

Consider these unlucky winners while standing in line for your lottery tickets:

• Norman Fletcher of Deckerville won $1 million in September 1974, and then was sued by his best friend.

• Charles Lynn Riddle of Belleville won $1 million in August 1975. Afterward, he got divorced, faced several lawsuits and was indicted for selling cocaine.

• Kenneth P. Proxmire of Hazel Park won $1 million in 1977. Within five years, he declared bankruptcy and his children and wife of 18 years left him.

• Larry Frederick of Livingston County split a $33 million jackpot in 1988. Frederick, who was financially well-off before winning the lottery, found himself awash in lawsuits.

• Willie Hurt of Lansing won $3.1 million in 1989. Two years later, he was broke and charged with murder. His lawyer said Hurt spent his fortune on a divorce and crack cocaine.

Money doesn't change a person's level of happiness, said Kennon Sheldon, a psychologist at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Sheldon said, "We consistently find that people who say money is most important to them are (the unhappiest),"

Shante Roberts laughs at such talk. She works at Chene Trombley Market in Detroit, one of the state's biggest lottery retailers, and has a pocket-full of tickets of her own for tonight's drawing. "I know I'd be doing better with the lottery," she said. "People love money." (End of article)