 Is gambling a sin? Well, the Bible does not explicitly say that gambling is a sin. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it cannot be a sin. It would not be a sin because it is a game of chance. It's not a sin because there's no skill involved. Because even the Bible even tells us how people would cast lots in the Bible. Now this should not be confused with casting of lots because when the men of God would do it, when God would have you do it, they would do so knowing that God's hand would be involved. But then also they would cast lots because it is by no ways influenced by someone else. The problem with gambling and where it can become a sin is if there is some sort of way where it is influenced by someone else. In other words, that there is dishonest gain attached to it, there's deception, there's greed to it. But then on the part of the person that's playing or that's actually doing the gambling, not the person that's setting it up, but on the other end, the unsuspecting person maybe, is that also a sin for that person to engage in gambling? Well, there are different reasons why someone might think that gambling is a sin. One, because it's wasteful and being wasteful with money. We're told to be prudent with our money, but being wasteful in and of itself isn't always necessarily a sin. For example, we might buy ice cream. We don't need that ice cream. We might even have, many of us do, have different streaming services and so forth that we absolutely don't need and even say to ourselves, we should get rid of them. And are they wasteful? In some cases, in many cases they are. Are having those things, is buying ice cream, is buying a hamburger from time to time? Is that a sin? No, it's not. Now, could those things, could being wasteful become sinful? Sure, especially if it influences or gets in the way of what you ought to be doing with your money. If the gambling is used to supplant work, the person that works should not eat, but if you desire to find an easy way to make money and even a quick way to make money, well, then we have a problem. Two passages in Proverbs address this. This is Proverbs 13, 11 where it says, wealth obtained by fraud, dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases. In other words, if there are some sort of fraudulent means, but also it's done in a hasty fashion. The word that's used here is vanity or breath. And so if it's done that fashion quickly, then it can become a sin. Also, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 28, 20, a faithful man will abound with blessing. But he who makes face to be rich, he will go unpunished. And so if the goal is to get rich quick, that is not going. That is a sin. There's supposed to be a process. Now, if wealth happens to come about you quickly, that's not necessarily sin, but it's the desire to do so. It's the desire to become rich quickly. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6, 9, nobody says he says, but those who want to get rich fall into temptation, a snare and many foolish and harmful desires will plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money, the love of it is a root of all sorts of evil. And some by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. And notice what he says, those who want, and this word that's used here is a word from the Greek word bulimai, you have planned, it is an intense desire. Because what it says in verse 10, it's the love of money. Those who are longing for it. Now, is the love of money the root of all evil? No, it's a root. And so this is dangerous. It's that longing for it. And if gambling is how you go ahead and achieve this longing, well, then it is a sin. If there is greed attached to your warning money and greed attached to you gambling, well, then it's clearly sin. And oh, by the way, there are different things that we come up with to bring people money quickly. It could be the lottery, it could be playing bingo, going to some sort of gambling, both some sort of gambling establishment at some sort of reservations of casino, either in Las Vegas or somewhere else. Are those sinful? They very well can be. It's necessarily me and other themselves. They are sinful. Maybe, maybe not. I won't deal with the different aspects behind that. There's always going to be some rationale or some reason or something that someone's going to come up with to justify or to call it sin. In and of itself, gambling is not sin, but it's the motive behind one, the person that's doing the gambling on this side and the one on the other side. A surefire way to keep yourself from falling into some sort of temptation or some sort of snare and trap of sin is to heed to Hebrew 13.5. It says, Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. Now, if you are content with where you stand in life, then amen. You don't go looking for and doing different things to try to make yourself to become rich. Would anyone like to become rich? Would I like to be rich? Sure. Is it my desire? Am I going to do any and everything that I possibly can to become rich? No. Been there, done that. And doing so, even if you think there is a godly reason behind it, I want to give money to the church. I want to give money to the church. I want to help people, homeless folks. Oftentimes, you might have that initially, but I can promise you this. In many cases, when you get the money, that motive has changed and you now are doing things to kind of service that greed. And so be careful that your desire, even if it's not gambling, isn't to become rich so that you don't end up making some sort of alternative ways that are oftentimes sinful to go about getting this money. So is gambling a sin? Not in and of itself. Would I caution anyone to gamble? No. I would say that you might want to stay away from it if a person does happen to have a lottery ticket or a scratch off. Does that mean that person has necessarily committed a sin? No. But make sure this is not, if you happen to do so, it is an extreme rarity. It's not the norm. It's something that maybe you just did in passing. What have you, but you are not known for that. As a matter of fact, you should be the kind of person that you don't even know how to gamble. Remember, whatever we do, we should do to the glory of God. And so even with the $5 that we have, the $1 that we have, what have you, use it all to the glory of God. Having fun, enjoying yourself, that's also a possibility. That's also okay. But make sure that what you do, no one can impugn you and your walk in doing so. Amen.