Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you, I will never abandon

 

Horses, cards, lotto, slots…fantasy football? Are you a gambler?

 

Religious people have historically been against gambling, giving the classic example of dad losing his paycheck on drink and game before he ever got home on payday. The recreational gambler might reply: “It’s just a game and it’s not hurting anyone.”

 

Jesus’s call is a radical one that requires a person to examine every part of their life in light of Jesus’s example and scripture (Luke 9:56-62). The Bible teaches “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have” (Hebrews 13:5). “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows” (2 Timothy 5:10).

 

Global studies show that between 1 and 5 percent of people across 5 continents can be classified as addicted to gambling.[1] But Ligon Duncan makes the case that gambling sets aside God’s structure for providing for us:

 

“Here’s the principle: You work, God provides, your needs are met. Gambling replaces work, providence, needs, with risks, fate or chance and riches. You risk something depending totally on fate or chance… for needs to be met? No. For riches. You see, it stokes an inordinate desire and it replaces…work, providence, needs…with risk, fate, and riches.”[2]

 

In considering our habits, the Bible gives us good advice: “Let us test and examine our ways” (Lamentations 3:40). Is it recreation or is it wrong?

 

[1] Calado, Filipa, and Mark D Griffiths. “Problem Gambling Worldwide: An Update and Systematic Review of Empirical Research (2000-2015).” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5370365/.

[2] Duncan III, J. Ligon. “The Eighth Commandment: No Theft.” Reformed Theological Seminary, 2 May 2002, https://rts.edu/resources/the-eighth-commandment-no-theft/.