19 November

Todays' the day when in 1994 Britain's first ever National Lottery draw took place. Lottery operators Camelot announced that around 15 million people had bought 35 million tickets between them, at a cost of £1 each. They were hoping to win a jackpot of about £7 million although their chances of doing so were only one in 14 million. In fact seven winners got around £800,000 each in that first lottery draw.

Although the lottery has always been publicised as just a game and a bit of fun, Christians have generally been very wary of taking part. The ‘ticket to dream’ can easily be a ticket to envy and greed – to buy into the false dream that more cash can solve our problems and make us happy. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he teaches him (and us) about the satisfaction that comes from being content with our material possessions:

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.