August 25 2017 – Click here to listen
I bought a lottery ticket for the $700 million-dollar lottery the other night. Of course, I didn’t win, but the lady who did win is in for a rude awakening. Her financial security is now taken care of, but her problems are just beginning. The sharks smell blood and are swimming her way in an all-out effort to get their hands on her money. Family, “friends”, acquaintances, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, charities, churches, wannabe entrepreneurs, bachelors, will all come to her with tin cup in hand.
I got a taste of it when I sold my company Horizon Software. We netted $75 million dollars and I received a ton of publicity for having gone from homeless drug-addict to multi-millionaire. Little did I imagine the many problems that it would create. MSNBC broke my story on the Internet and the next morning it was generating 180,000 hits an hour and quickly was picked up by other news outlets to be circulated all over the world.
Greedy grifters used every scheme imaginable to try and lie their way into my office to make their pitch at getting money. Women were sending me photos telling me that they wanted to marry me, (some of them looked pretty darn good too.)
Ugh! It was nauseating to observe those few folks slick enough to succeed in talking their way into my office for an appointment. They were so-o-o-o sincere. Then when all the flattery, feigned friendship, and admiration for my love of Christ was exhausted, they would spring their real reason for being there and it had nothing to do with thinking the world of me or wanting to sit at me knee and receive advice on how they too could earn millions, or congratulate me on my ministry efforts. They merely wanted an opportunity to make a pitch to me to give them money. (Churches and charities were by far the worst.)
In my case, I’d had a history of being betrayed all my life. As a young man, the girl I loved and had asked to marry me, ended up betraying me with my own brother and five of his friends while I was out of town. Early in my career when I was struggling to get started, I was sued by family over money that was due to my wife from an inheritance. She ultimately was cheated out of her small inheritance by her own family with lawyers getting her share. I had a 7-year employee whom I loved like a son and who was actually entrusted with a key to my house, who led a ring of employees to embezzle a million dollars from one of my businesses. It took me seven long years to get over that betrayal.
I could go on but you get the picture.
Even with all of those early life bad experiences of being betrayed by true loves, family, friends, lawyers and so forth and as a result being wary as a sage coyote, after I sold that company, I still got taken for a ride more than once.
So, the lady who just won the lotto is now embarking on a disgusting look at the greed of humanity and I would hazard to guess she is ill prepared for it. Her husband recently died and she appears to be a lamb ready for the slaughter. I’m sure by now her phone has been changed and she has gone into hiding and I pray her days will be insulated from the pain.
I’ve told people for years that money is not really what people think it is. Yes, it does provide financial security and ends the financial struggle and nice things are…well…nice, but after the trinkets are bought they quickly lose their luster. More houses, cars, boats, or planes don’t bring the enjoyment one would think. Why do you think so many celebrities and wealthy tycoons are so miserable? Because money truly cannot buy happiness.
The Bible states that the love of money is the root of all evil. I believe that. It brings out the absolute worst in people. King Solomon had it all and spent a lifetime trying to find peace through his money and the power that it provides. He couldn’t find it in his 800 wives or concubines, his immense palaces, vineyards, fine horses and stables, proverbs, songs, feasts, adoring followers. Our lives can never be fulfilled by material things or anything in this world. At the end of his life he described the only thing that really matters in this life in very eloquent terms.
Eccl. 12:13
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!