Okay, Powerball participants and enthusiasts, let’s talk about something you and I both like.
Money. Lots and lots of money. Approximately eight hundred million dollars worth of money.
What would you do with that much money? Can you count that high? I’m not sure I can. I really can’t fathom just how much money that is. Hard to wrap my brain around it.
Know what I mean?
I’d kind of like to try, though.
Let’s see. I could buy a his and hers Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita, for a cool $4.2 million a piece. Here’s a picture of the little jewel, shown with real diamonds in the paint.
The ridiculously monstrous engine, 4.8L V8 with over 1000 hp will flat outrun and outmaneuver anything else on the road.
That leaves $791.6 million.
Oh, I’d better deduct half the winnings to pay Uncle Sam, 10% tithe to the church, another 20% for other charitable donations, and we’re sitting on $151.6 million.
I’m sure my wife and I could build a dream home for $6.6 million, dropping the total to $145 million.
I’d better watch it, we’re getting kind of low on funds.
How much is $145 million?
Well, in terms of miles it’s approximately 5,800 trips around the world. Or, if you’d prefer to take a slightly more exotic trip, you could go to the moon and back 300 times and still not reach the 145 million mile mark.
Let’s look at $145 million using McDonald’s $1 menu hamburgers as our unit of measure. Supposing each hamburger is 3 inches high. If you had 145 million hamburgers, and you could stack them against the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa, which is 2,717 feet tall), you’d have enough hamburgers for more than 13,340 such buildings.
That’s a lot of hamburgers!
$145 million is an extraordinary amount of money, in just about everyone’s mind. And though I like money, yes, lots of it, something inside my heart waves the caution flag when I begin to dream my “if I won the lottery” dream.
“A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.” (Proverbs 28:19 NLT)
“Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.” (Proverbs 28:22 NLT)
“Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.” (Proverbs 28:25 NLT)
People have said to me, “When I strike it rich, I’m gonna give a lot to the church, and to the poor.”
That’s great, but if it’s hard to give away a dollar, where will they find the strength to give away a thousand, or more?
People can be overtaken by the love for money and still be dirt poor. Folks just like you and I have been known to listen to the “promises” a bank full of money can make. “If you can save this much, or that much, you’ll be set for life!”
Somehow, the bank full of money is never enough.
I know there are quite a number of people who play the lottery simply for entertainment. Every so often they toss in a few bucks just to see what could happen. You know, kind of like buying a raffle ticket at a church bazaar.
But there are some to whom it’s not a game. It’s an addiction. Tickets are purchased before bills are paid. The chance to hit it big looms large in their mind every payday, so a trip to their favorite place to play is a necessity. To me, that’s more than sad.
I understand those compelling, driving urges, for I discovered some time ago just how easy it is to develop an addiction. Whether it’s an addiction to drugs, porn, , or even fantasy football, an addiction can take over a person’s life. What may have started as a little pastime fun, turns into a full time master.
A master who wants only one thing; everything.
I’d like to win $800 million, but I won’t. I’ve been told I have to play to win. So…
But I feel like I’m rich, anyway. No, I don’t have extra hamburgers to stack against the buildings in Dubai, but my God meets ALL our needs according to His riches in glory.
I don’t have enough loot to “bless” my wife with such a hot sports car, but He’s able to make all His grace abound toward me, so I can have His abundance to meet every challenge.
I give, and it’s given to me, pressed down, shaken together, and running over; for the way I give it’s given to me.
Although I’m certain I could find some great uses for the lottery money, I’m really enjoying the liberty I’ve found in Christ, Who’s able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all I ask or even think.
So when I choose to honor the Lord with what I have, and anything I gain, it’s exciting to see just how He makes my storehouses, cupboards, bank accounts, and gas tanks not only full, but overflowing!
There isn’t any “if I won the lottery” for me. Not when God’s promises are a sure thing; for they are “Yes! And amen!” In Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20)
Jan Grace 