Whether it’s a scratch-off or the big-money draw, winning the lottery is not only exciting but also opens new opportunities. But if you’re going to spend your money on a ticket, make sure you do it smartly. Check out our article for tips to help you maximize your prize.
The casting of lots for decisions and fates has a long history, including several instances in the Bible. But the lottery’s use for material gain is more recent. The first public lotteries to offer tickets with prizes in the form of money began in the Low Countries in the 15th century. They were originally designed to raise funds for town repairs and to help the poor.
Today, lotteries are run like businesses, with a primary function of increasing revenues. To do that, they must advertise. And advertising necessarily promotes gambling, with all its negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers.
Lottery advertising frequently misrepresents odds, for example by implying that winning the jackpot is a matter of chance (it’s not). It also inflates the value of the money won (the lottery prize is usually paid in annual installments over 20 years, so inflation dramatically reduces the current value); and it entices people to take risks they might not otherwise consider.
Most importantly, lotteries promote the notion that money is a panacea. They lure people with promises that if they can only hit the jackpot, all their problems will disappear. But the Bible teaches us that coveting money and things that money can buy is wrong: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that is his.”