Gambling with our souls

Bible verse:
"We have found the Messiah." (John 1: 35-42)

Inspiration:
“What do you seek?” The question that Jesus put to John’s two disciples is the same one that each of us must answer for ourselves. What do you want out of life?

It seems the one thing many Americans want above all else is good luck.

More than 80 percent of adults now gamble and, according to one betting Web site, we spend more money on gambling each year than on movies, videos, DVDs, music and books. Many gamblers wager more with their bookie than they spend at the local grocer. They’re addicted to the quick fix, fast buck roll of the dice.

Las Vegas casinos have built a shrine to Lady Luck where neon lights are the votive candles and cigarette smoke is the incense.

“What happens here stays here,” they claim in their advertising. But, in reality, the impact of gambling reaches far beyond the casinos and government sponsored lotteries to every corner of our economy. Too often, the losses come out of money needed to pay for rent, utilities, food, clothing and doctors’ bills.

The chances of winning a big multi-state game like the Powerball are one in 80 million or virtually zero. Yet people buy lottery tickets week in and week out for reasons that defy rational analysis.

The desperate search for instant riches is actually a sign that something other than money is missing in a gambler’s life. It’s a sign of a spiritual void. As Saint Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless, Lord, and they will not rest until they rest in Thee.”

Rather than asking, “What do I want out of life?” the real question is, “What do I want in my life?” We can only get out of life what we put into it. If we make money our God, we will be gambling with our souls. If, on the other hand, we develop our spiritual life and cultivate the fruits of the spirit, we will come to know love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

There is only one sure bet in life and that’s the one the two disciples made when they left everything to follow Jesus.

Verse of the Day is available as a free web service from BibleGateway.com Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.