Hard Work or Chasing Fantasies.

As I read through Proverbs, I came to this verse today. It made me think of the lottery.

 

“He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.” Proverbs 28:19 NIV

 

A very wealthy man who is a member of a very large church in Little Rock casually showed me the scratch-off card he had purchased earlier that day.

 

A very poor man casually mentioned losing a few dollars in the lottery.

 

Either way, there is a danger in gambling. The multi-million dollar jackpots are the fantasies of many people. Some can afford to lose the money needed to play. Others cannot. But that’s not the point.

 

The point is about our stewardship of what God has given us. In God’s economy, gain comes through hard work. Whether it’s a casino, a lottery, or a racetrack, none of these are hard work although many people put in a lot of effort playing. In reality, gambling is chasing fantasies.

 

At the end of the day we must ask ourselves if all that we have done honors God because at the end of our lives God will ask us the same question.