| Bible Study: Gambling Is A Disease Of The Mind |
By: Evangelist W.C. “Dub” Dellinger
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Gambling can destroy you, along with all your possessions. When I was in the Army during WWII, I witnessed young men waste all they had gambling. Then they would wire home for more money and lose that too. I tried to talk to one but it did no good. He agreed that gambling can take over your life; and it can happen with very little effort from you.
The other day, I heard about a widow who had lost all of her and her deceased husband’s savings playing the school lottery. Now people are using “helping the schools” as an excuse to gamble and it makes gambling legal. Nothing good can ever come of that. If they only knew how many minds are taken over by the lottery. So while they are using the excuse that this legalized gambling is helping to educate the minds of our children, it is destroying the lives of many of their parents. Gambling is a sin, regardless of how you sugarcoat it.
You may be surprised to find that the word, gambling, is not in the red letter edition of the Bible. One person I talked with used this as an excuse that it was okay to gamble. He said it was a gamble with your life to drive on the highway these days. I told him he was using chance and making it sound like gambling to cover up. You cannot justify gambling no matter what you use. Gambling is you using your possessions to put your faith in something of this world. The challenger will always lose in the end if you keep it up long enough. I have talked with many who did.
In the Army, our captain allowed legal gambling three days after we were paid. I never joined in but others did. Some learned very quick but even that was too late. Let’s don’t forget that because of sin, the devil gets first chance to control your mind. God will not let the devil take you where you choose not to go. The goodness of the Lord shown that day on Golgotha Hill will give you the strength to pull away from the devil if it is your choice to do so. God created us with a free will and He will not interfere with our choices. We have to desire the will of God. His love made it possible for you to come clean as if you never sinned one sin in your life. As soon as He forgives that sin, He forgets. He expects the same from you and me. If you’re struggling today with gambling or some other addiction, remember when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, YOU were on His mind!
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