Scripture reference to gambling

Being a pastor for a number of years, I have seen the effects of gambling not only on society but also on individual families. Beneath the glittering surface of a gambling casino lurks the parallel tragedy of addiction.

Being a nouthetic counselor, I must confront gambling, as other vices, with the Bible. When people say there is no reference in Scripture concerning the sin of gambling, they have not really opened their minds as they should. The 10th Commandment confronts what gambling is all about -- "Thou shalt not covet... anything that is thy neighbor's," Exodus 20:17.

Gamblers covet the money that others have spent hoping they too will be rich. A warning against gambling is given: "But they that will [to] be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition," 1 Timothy 6:9. "The will is to be rich at any cost and in haste," Proverbs 28:20b. Another reference to the plight of many gamblers is given in Proverbs 28:22.

If a man earns, buys or trades for something, he has a right to the article possessed; but in gambling, when a person wins he "... increaseth that which is not his," Habakkuk 2:6.

Jesus warns us in Luke 12:15, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

Rev. VERNON LONG, Jackson