Money, Money, Money!

Mega Millions jackpot is now $355,000,000.00! That's PHP15,509,950,000.00!

What would you do if you win that kind of money? I have to say that one can't keep all that money to oneself and not be changed by it. Money, like fame, is a powerful catalyst. Especially the kind that landed on your lap on a silver platter. Depending on how you use it, it could either corrupt or create good.

If you think about it, it seems like a really big amount for one person but really puny on a grander scale. It surely wouldn't make so much as a dent on the 13 trillion US national debt or to rehabilitate a nation like Haiti. Most people think that the amount of money should be substantial to help out. But something doesn't have to be in the trillions to make a difference. It doesn't matter whether you have a few thousand or a couple million. I have seen people with a measly hundred make a difference in the lives of many and known some who earn millions a day and whose only response when confronted with the truth of ailing neighbors just a few miles from where they live is to put a couple dollars in an envelope and say, "These people should work harder." And still others would simply say, "I'll be praying for them." Prayers are good and very effective besides but I wonder whether we ever consider that we could be the answer God had in mind.

On the flip side, I could choose to better my own life should I be the sole winner of this lottery jackpot (which in the natural won't happen because I haven't bought a single ticket). I could buy a $10 million house, a $500,000 red ferrari, invest $50 million in stocks, set aside $10 million to open my own clinical practice, another $10 million for retirement and still have over $200 million left over. What's stopping me to spend some for myself and my family and give the rest to the less fortunate? Nothing. What I do (or what you'd do for that matter) with my money is my own business. And that mindset, my friends, is very dangerous. Accountability is very important. "With great power comes great responsibility," according to Uncle Ben. And in the words of Jesus, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:48, KJV)

My prayer is this, that whoever wins these millions, they would use them as God purposed. I would be presumptuous to say it needs to be used for the physically poor and needy. Surely God has purposes that our minds couldn't grasp.

Disclaimer: I am not an advocate of gambling of any sort. To quote Rodney Reyman, "When the truths of God's Word are considered, the Christian should not adopt a neutral stance on gambling. Gambling fosters trust in luck rather than God, it disregards our role as manager of God's resources, it involves the unloving practice of trying to gain from others' loss, it goes contrary to the work ethic of the Scriptures, and it is addictive." The question I often ask myself whenever I'm tempted to buy a lottery ticket, "Why do I want to gamble anyway? Is there anything I need that God has not and will not provide?"