A few weeks ago, people all across the country were scrambling to buy lottery tickets. The jackpot was the largest it has ever been in the history of the Lotto–over 1 billion dollars. People jokingly talked about what they would do with the money if they were to ever win; imagining how great their lives would be with unlimited resources.
“What do you have to lose by spending $5–it only takes one ticket to win?”
To be honest, it is not much of a gamble when the stakes are so low.
If you lose, you don’t lose a lot. Right?
But what if I were to tell you that based on the statistics–it was more probable for you to lose, than to win. Some people say that “it is worth the gamble” because the risk is minimal.
But what if you always gambled knowing that you had a losing ticket?
That would be stupid.
But people do it all the time with their lives.
It’s the same thing when people get into relationships. Perhaps a person has a history of behaviors or a pattern of decisions; yet we ignore all the red flags because we enter the commitment thinking it is going to be different this time, somehow. Yet their character and predictable behavior is kind of like playing the lottery with the same losing numbers every time.
I am not really the kind of person that takes gambles on many things, but I have gambled with life decisions in the past.
I don’t really play the lottery. And whether you do or not, is your prerogative.
But if you take anything away from this read—it should be this:
Stop gambling with your life.
The Bible says that “…for whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
In other words, according to the scriptures, there is a payoff when we are willing to “lose our life” (metaphorically speaking).
I think it is testament to the need to change the way we approach life. We must make calculated decisions and own them. We should be encouraged to think through choices and not let emotion dictate our options.
Sometimes we can get disillusioned about life decisions (just like the thought of winning the lottery), with thoughts of grandeur. But the reality is—if you have losing numbers—you’re going to lose.
The only consolation that I have in knowing that I have taken life risks is that I did not commit to continuing to lose.
Those risks, while they have hurt me— have also helped me become who I am today.
I realize now that I did not gamble then because I KNEW that I was playing with losing numbers. But now, those losing numbers have been crumbled up and thrown in the trash.
Come to find that all along, “I won the lotto.”
Maybe not in the way you think. My winning lottery numbers are:
Family. Love. Loyalty. Respect. Peace. Forgiveness. Faith.
All the things that can’t be purchased.