SOME ASK: ISN'T ALL LIFE REALLY A GAMBLE?

We are told in the Bible that our lives are like a vapor that appears for awhile and then vanishes, and that we do not know what a day may bring forth (James 4:13-15). Yet, this risk is not artificially contrived. These are the realities of life.

To those who call all of life a gamble, we simply answer that while life has its risks, the more intelligent a person is, the more he REDUCES the element of uncertainty. The farmer is NOT a gambler. He doesn't leave everything to chance. He does all he can to insure himself a good yield from his crops. The wise business man reduces his risks to a very minimum. He watches his inventory, checks his accounts, feels the pulse of public wants, and studies the market.

Marriage is not a gamble when two intelligent young people become well acquainted as to family background, ideals, beliefs, hopes and dreams, habits, and disposition, before finally saying the "I do".

The Bible sanctions farming and blesses it as a needed industry. The Bible commends honesty and diligence in business. The Bible honors marriage.

The only honorable ways to receive money are by work, gift, or inheritance.

Advocates of gambling often try to place it in the same category as other ventures that involve risk. They describe farming, business, insurance, and even investments as gambling because the outcome is unpredictable and losses can occur. In this way they hope to transfer the respectability of legitimate ventures to gambling.

To distinguish gambling from risks involved in legitimate ventures it would be helpful to recognize three integral factors in gambling: I) an incentive consisting of money or merchandise is offered. 2) The prize is acquired primarily on the basis of chance. 3) A payment of money or other consideration is required to become involved in the chance taken.

Gambling, then is recognized as any activity in which wealth changes hands, mainly on the basis of chance and with risk to the gambler. Creative efforts, useful skills, and responsible investment are not integral factors.

—Paul