I think it comes down to where your heart is. Playing the lottery means you pay out an investment in the hopes of gaining a return.
How is that any different than the investment I pay out every year when I spend the time and money working my soil, buying and sowing my seed, fertilizing, and controlling weeds all in the hope that the weather will cooperate and not be too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot, destroy it with hail, destroy it with wind, etc. and then hope the price doesn't fall out of the grain market when I harvest. This past summer I was within just four miles of a disastrous hail storm that left soybeans looking like rows of twigs. The summer was extremely wet and my crops looked terrific but I had to wait nervously for things to dry out as it was an exceptionally wet summer, especially around harvest time. Fortunately, we eventually got them done but it was questionable for a while.
Do you put all your hopes on the gamble, risk your family's welfare or your own, and place your success or failure ahead of God?
