Paul, today's question has come up in a variety of forms over the years.

Is it sinful to play the lottery?

Can I bet on professional sports?

Am I wasting my time and money going to a casino even if it's just to have a fun night out with my spouse or friends?

So I'll leave it at that and allow you to answer however you want.

I would like to answer this question in a couple words, but I can't. It's a very good question

and this question has fingers in a lot of different directions. And so I want to give an answer that does justice to the extent of this question.

I want to say first, it's very important to say that there's nowhere in Scripture that

specifically and clearly prohibits the lottery or gambling.

That doesn't mean that the Bible doesn't have anything to say about gambling.

And let me talk about the nature of scripture.

The Bible doesn't speak to everything directly. If the Bible spoke to everything in your life directly, you wouldn't carry

your Bible to church. You would drive it to church in 15, 18 wheelers. Because that's how exhaustive the Word of God could be.

So the Bible is comprehensive without being exhaustive.

In other words, by wisdom principles, by the nature of the narrative,

the Bible speaks to everything in your life

without addressing specifically everything in your life.

And such is the case with lottery.

So let me say that what may be operating

with people who want to play the lottery.

Perhaps buying a lottery ticket could reveal a lack of trust in God's willingness to provide.

God has made a flat-footed promise that he will provide whatever we need.

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