"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" 2 Corinthians 9:6 (KJV). "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" Colossian 3:1-2 (KJV).

When it comes to the truth everyone must confess that the heart of the gambler is on gambling, and winning big money. "NO!" You say, "I do it for entertainment". Oh, so you don't mind just seeing your dollars go flying away, and never getting any return on it. How long would you do that in investing? You are there to win. Your heart is on winning. Your heart is not on the things of the Lord when it is on the things of the world.

The final thing we need to see is the BOUNTIFUL FACTOR. When you sow seeds you expect a harvest. When you sow bountifully you will in most cases reap bountifully. It comes down to what are you sowing. If you sow "Wild oats" you will reap wild oats. If you are sowing money in the wind, which is pretty much what gambling is, then you will reap loss. Someone has called the lottery, "The poor man's taxes". Those who have a bountiful heart, are those who have labored long and hard, and they also give much of it away to help those who are in need - "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." Proverbs 22:9 (KJV). They earn their blessings, and know that it was from God who gave them strength to get it, and that it was also God who gave them the increase, and enabled them to give to other's needs. They sowed in faith and reaped a bountiful harvest.

Trusting the Lord is the way of bounty. It is not in "waiting for your ship to come in" or for "good luck", and no one has luck; good or bad. There is no such thing. "Seet thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men" Proverbs 22:29 (KJV).

The way to a bountiful life is through faith in the One who gave all of heaven for you. His name is Jesus. He gave all He had to purchase your salvation. He gave His life on the cross, was buried, and rose again. He lives, and will come again. Call on His name, and He will save you. His name is Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God.

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 8:13 (KJV).

The third thing we see is the RIGHTEOUS FACTOR. It begins with the fear of the LORD. Righteousness, must of necessity begin with the Lord God. The "Fear of the LORD" inspires righteous living. Righteous living causes us to hate the things which God hates, which the verse here says is 'to hate evil'. The "Fear of the LORD" is not a fear which drives us away in terror, except due to sin; but it is rather the fear which causes us to flee to Him.

Hatred for all evil will inspire us to love others, and seeking their best; which will not be a life of ease, but rather one of labor; "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" Ephesians 4:28 (KJV). When it comes to gambling you could say it is stealing. The mother or father; or the mother and father both buy lottery tickets or go to the casino gambling money that was for the families food, clothing for the week. They have voluntarily thrown it away, stolen it from the health of their children. The verse in Ephesians speaks of planning ahead toward making enough in the labor you do to give some of it away to those in need. This is speaking of honest labor; working with your hands, and that does not mean dealing cards, running any sort of gambling game or selling lottery tickets. Laboring with your hands is a work of production. Growing crops, building furniture, building homes. That should give you the right ideas.

Here is the principle which God gives us in His Word - "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV). If you work and gamble it away on fruitless pursuits, then you deserve to have nothing. OUCH! There are people who are on welfare and food stamp rolls today who could and should be working. If we would put the above principle to work in the system there would be a lot of people who would not be on welfare and would be at work, or they would be starving.

Ever since gambling began, there has been an evil associated with it. The child of God will seek out those things which are pleasing to God. I believe, I can say with a certainty, that God is not pleasured by any pursuits of gambling.

Within the RIGHTEOUS FACTOR is also the process of creativity. Creativity to start a business that will be pleasing and honorable to God, and give jobs to those who will work hard and be a hardworking, creative, asset to the business. Herein lies the heart of the gambler; "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not" (Proverbs 21:25-26), and the heart of the "righteous".

When it comes to the problem of gambling there are some who have no problem with it. "It is only a source of recreation for me"; or "Gambling does not hurt anyone", and then, there are some who will say, "Well! Even farming is a gamble". I certainly will beg to differ with that tale.

Here is my reason for believing that farming is not gambling. Farming is hard work; that involves labor for many days in the year from sun up to sun down and many times even before the sun rises and after it sets of the evening. Gambling by its very doing is a scheme to attempt to gain much for little or nothing.

There are four factors that are not in gambling that are in farming and other businesses which operate in "Risky waters"; Here is the OUTLINE:

"For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." Proverbs 8:11 (KJV).

First of all let's look at THE WISDOM FACTOR. Is there any clear wisdom to the game of any form of gambling? I believe that the answer to that is "NO!" How much wisdom is there in taking your money and setting it aflame? That is what happens to most people who gamble. An old Disney movie series of Davy Crocket has Crocket, and his sidekick in a pub, with a pea game peddler. They ask Davy to place a bet, but he will not. They ask his if gambling is a sin, and he says, "I don't know if it is a sin or not, but it sure is foolish". Anytime you play another person's game you are going to lose.

Losing is how the Casinos stay in business - not their loss, but yours. Any fool can throw their money to the wind, and that is what you do when you gamble.

Here are some wise thoughts to consider concerning gambling. When you gamble that is money that could have been spent in production of goods. It could have bought a new pair of shoes, which would lead to the making of more shoes to replace the ones that were purchased. It could have gone to buying a car - there have been people who lost enough to buy a car, a house, or even a business - leading to the building of other cars, and their sales. You get the picture.

Another wise thing to consider is that many times gambling takes money away from families. I will just buy this lottery ticket, and maybe it will be a winner, then they buy another, and before you know the weekly check is all gone. There will be no groceries on the table or in the cabinets at home due to greed. Just trying to better themselves? They would have been better off to give the money they lost to some charity to support a needy family.

One more thing concerning this WISDOM FACTOR. If you could happen to be a Christian and are throwing your hard earned money to the wind of gambling; whether it is lottery tickets, the casinos or what ever; you are taking money that could be going to Mission causes. The next time you go to buy that lottery ticket; think and pray long and hard before you fork over that bill. You may be thinking, "Well if I win that jackpot I could give a larger amount to missions". You know what? It will not happen.

Be wise and think this matter of gamling through. There is no wisdom to gambling at all. The promoters of gambling are really the only winners. You are a winner by keeping your money in your pocket.