told<\/a>\u00a0a financial advisor that\u00a0\u201cwinning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\nDo you want God\u2019s best for your life today, tomorrow and forever, or would you prefer to instantly become a billionaire? Would you choose obscene wealth for a few years over eternal joy in Paradise?\u00a0Followers of Christ choose Heaven.\u00a0Unfortunately, we often live with far less joy than God wants us to experience, and we tend to lose sight of what God is preparing for those who love Him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus told His disciples:\u00a0\u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going\u201d (John 14:1-4).\u00a0Jesus then told them,\u00a0\u201cI am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me\u201d (v. 6).<\/p>\n
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been given something a trillion times more valuable than a winning lottery ticket. Do you remind yourself often of your eternal inheritance?\u00a0Where is your treasure today? Is it in Christ alone, or in some far-fetched fantasy to became insanely wealthy?<\/p>\n
Those who are\u00a0\u201cwise for salvation\u201d (2 Timothy 3:15) have received true and lasting riches. You see,\u00a0\u201cWealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death\u201d (Proverbs 11:4).<\/p>\n
Will you be enjoying Paradise with the Lord 100 years from now, or will you be miserable because you missed out on Heaven and ended up in Hell?\u00a0No one in Paradise regrets trusting Jesus to be their Savior and forgive their sins. And everyone in Heaven will have eternity to celebrate God\u2019s goodness, majesty and love.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, many lottery winners lost their soul after an enormous sum of money fell into their lap. They essentially traded Heaven for a winning lottery ticket and are now\u00a0separated from God for eternity.\u00a0Will some lottery winners end up in Heaven? Sure. But I suspect the vast majority of them will end up in Hell.<\/p>\n
Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God\u201d (Matthew 19:24). And, \u201cWhat does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?\u201d (Mark 8:36).\u00a0Do you lust after things in the world? God\u2019s Word declares:\u00a0\u201cDo not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him\u201d (1 John 2:15).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus told people in the church of Laodicea:\u00a0\u201cYou say,\u00a0\u2018I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.\u2019 But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked\u201d (Revelation 3:17).\u00a0If you desire true riches that will never run out, then\u00a0turn your eyes upon Jesus and the sacrifice Christ made for you on the cross. The King of Kings wants to live with you forever in Paradise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many people have lost their immortal soul by choosing to love money instead of Jesus.\u00a0\u201cGod commands all people everywhere to repent\u201d (Acts 17:30).\u00a0Repentance leads people to renounce their love of money, and spiritual conversion occurs when a person trusts Jesus to wash away all of their sins.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Heaven truly is a trillion times better than a winning lottery ticket! Do you believe it?<\/p>\n
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Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church\u00a0in Papillion, Nebraska.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n