When I was eight, my parents took me to a gaming facility on the Mississippi River. My mother wanted to eat in a restaurant located there. It was my first introduction to slot machines. I saw people playing slot machines, and I wanted to try them. I asked my mother for a dime to play the slot machine, and that was the price of a candy bar in those days. As she gave me the dime, she said, “Now you can use the dime to play the slot machine and probably lose it, or you can use it to buy a candy bar.” Her intent may have been good, but I put the dime in the slot machine, pulled the lever, and hit the jackpot. I was able to buy a whole bucket of candy bars. The lure of gambling became obvious.
Fast forward that story to 2016, when my wife and I took a certificate we received in the mail to Las Vegas, where we purchased a room in a hotel at a significantly reduced rate. On the desk in the room was a $10.00 certificate to use in the hotel’s gaming center. My wife took the certificate and went into the gaming center. She had no money on her as she entered the center, but her first pull on the slot machine proclaimed her a winner and gave her a $20.00 bill. She returned to our room saying that if she played the slots five more times, she would have $100.00 minus the $20.00 she now owned. Again, the lure of gambling showed its ugly head.
That story has been repeated many times. In 2020, Americans spent 21.5 billion dollars on legal sports betting. In 2023, they spent 121 billion dollars, according to the American Gaming Association. They expect the final figures for 2024 to exceed 150 billion dollars.
Our congregation in Dowagiac, Michigan, is across the street from a casino. We regularly hear from people who have lost their life savings to the lure of gambling. The various Indian tribes that operate the gambling facilities continue to offer specials, such as a new car, to those they want to entice to participate in the casino’s gambling facility.
An organization called “DraftKings” offers gambling customers a $1,000 bonus if they deposit $5,000 and bet $25,000 within 90 days. Researchers at UCLA and USC have released a paper showing that online sports betting has led to 30,000 bankruptcies and eight billion dollars in annual debt collections. The lure of gambling leads to destruction.
As our culture moves farther away from the teachings of Christ, we can expect a constant increase in money spent on gambling. In 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul writes, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”
The lure of gambling is similar to prostitution. It takes something good that God has given us and turns it into a destructive, selfish addiction rather than using it for its intended purpose. The lure becomes the curse.
— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: Time magazine for February 10, 2025, page 46, and time.com
