I Didn’t Win the Lottery

 I didn’t win the lottery. I suppose my chances would have been better had I bought a ticket, but not all that much.

There’s been a lot of attention drawn to the winning ticket sold at the Beck Rd. Kroger store this past week. Someone (or, a group of persons) are in line to collect a billion dollars, or, after taxes, half that. There has been a rumor that a group of Novi teachers won. A principal wrote a post that said he won the lottery, not in $$, but in life’s riches and blessings. It was a good post. A nice response.

But as I have thought about how I might respond, I concluded it would be better to publicly declare that I didn’t win the lottery. I really don’t care if you buy a ticket or not, but I’ve never bought one. There are better risks to take. I disagree with the state promoting a system that encourages those who are already in a financial hole to dig even deeper, perhaps out of desperation, because they see no reasonable way out, except to win “the big one.” I don’t like what has been reported about the after-effects of winning a huge prize - wholesale change of lifestyle and friends, and often divorce. It’s an entertaining system, and provokes interesting discussions (what would we do with all that money?). But it is not healthy. And the Bible tells us as much.

Prov. 28:22 A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth 

And does not know that (poverty) will come upon him.

1Tim. 6:9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

I’m not sure that every person who buys a ticket has “an evil eye,” but I am pretty sure he’s focused on the the wrong thing. I don’t think that every person will do every wrong thing with their winnings, if they are among the infinitesimally small percentage who win - but I am sure that their winnings will cause more problems than they know.

And I think the whole subject obscures the wonderful truth concerning the tremendous riches that belong to the children of God through Christ - a wealth of a different order.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 NAS95)