There is a lot of talk about the current prize value of a lottery ticket. I have been wondering, how will winning the lottery change your life? 

Have I or you been daydreaming about all that can be bought and all that can be done or not done with the winnings?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon shared about all that he had in this life. He had power, but it didn’t satisfy, he had wealth and that too didn’t satisfy him.  He had 700 wives and 300 concubines and they didn’t make his life meaningful.  He pursued knowledge and that didn’t bring him satisfaction. He pursued everything under the sun to bring meaning and fulfilment to his life.  He finally said after chasing after everything, the only thing that brings meaning and satisfaction is the LORD.

Often in the Old Testament, people made and worshipped idols, gods of wood and stone.  All the pagans did it, the house of Israel did it, even Solomon turned away from the only true God to worship with his wives.  Idols are a cheap and unsatisfactory substitute for God.   

What about a lottery ticket?  Can this be an idol?  It can if you are using it to fulfill your dreams. What has God blessed you with right now?  Are you content with what He provides?  Is He not giving you what you crave? These are good questions for us to ask while the lottery winnings soar over a billion dollars.

"What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols.  "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a mute stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it. "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him." (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

What profit is it to have everything and not be satisfied?  What good is it to chase after things that we think will satisfy, when only Christ is the prize?

Jesus Christ says, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Meditate on this great truth today. 

We are not called to pursue what is meaningless.  We are called to pursue the Lord.

-Ted