What does the Bible say on gambling?

The Bible does not talk about gambling as such, but has a lot to say about the principles behind it. The whole thing about gambling is the hope of striking it rich, making a lot of quick money without having to work for it. At the bottom of gambling is a distrust of God, not being sure that we really can trust what the Bible says, that God will take care of all our needs, if we put our total trust in Him.

Philippians 4:19   And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own under-standing; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

As we can see in the passages above, we are told that if we entrust our lives completely to God, He will supply all or our needs. The bottom line is that we trust Him completely. If we don’t trust Him enough to believe that He can take care of us, we then start to use our own wisdom to try and get what we think we need. And this is when we start to buy Lotto tickets, gamble or bet on various activities, to try and do for ourselves what we think God is not willing, or able, to do for us. 

So, who do we worship, God or Mammon, the god of money? Are we willing to live a life without the money we think we are entitled to, but be close to God, and trust Him to supply all we need? Or do we take matters into our own hands, not trusting God, and end up wor-shipping money? Look at the words of Jesus below.

Matthew 6:24    “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and

mammon.”

So, the question is, do you have a relationship with God, that is strong enough to trust Him to take care of your every need? Jesus said that you cannot serve two masters. He did not say you should not serve two masters, but that it is impossible to have more than one master. It is either God or money, not God and money, so how do we choose?

God bless as you make your choice!