Insisting on finding a scriptural legislation on gambling, betting and the lottery may be a wild goose chase as there are no specific injunctions on these matters except that we are warned to beware of the love of money. We are told further that we cannot serve two masters, it is either we hate the one and love the other. We cannot serve both the Lord and Money.
One of the consequences of the over dependence on our reasoning mind is being chained to the things of this world. One of such is the love of gain which we can safely regard as the underlying reason behind gambling, betting and the lottery.
Still, the question posed above is tricky because someone can buy the lottery ticket or play the casino cash machine just for the fun of it occasionally and not get addicted. But then that is tantamount to wasting money just as buying a useless item or indulging in an overpriced lunch or dinner. Here we need to tread carefully for whatever is given to us through the ever-loving care of the creation laws must be used responsibly with thanksgiving and not frittered away. The lotteries claim that their takings are used for the betterment of society like funding education and social amenities. However, the participants do not always share these high aims but enter the game most of the time with the hope of making some quick money. Then most of the lottery participants cannot even afford the game and are simply made by subtle methods to part with their little cash for nothing! Casinos and the betting companies are even more explicit. They encourage their customers to play more. The casinos offer cheap or even free drinks that will remove inhibitions to spending on the game which is already skewed to favour the casino operators. The chances of winning in lotteries, betting or gambling is so slim that many who are addicted go into penury.
If we have the intention of giving our money to worthy causes, there are numerous opportunities for this if we look carefully around us and we can also revalue our wealth such that it serves us and others who are connected to us in a beneficial way.
Finally, putting one’s hope of becoming rich through gambling or the lottery is poverty thinking and is tantamount to affirming that we can become prosperous just *by chance!*. Such manner of thinking is a denial that we can attract that which is good and keep it through being inwardly upright and the work of our hands. Indeed, most lottery winners lose all the money within a few years of winning just because their innermost self could not retain the unmerited wealth. The way to sustainable prosperity is an inner state focused solely on that which is good in thought, word and deed, serving others with our talents, gifts and qualities and prayer for guidance to be led on to the right paths. May we all succeed!
