Gambling or making a bet is something a lot of us do regularly. We make friendly wagers with our friends and family, like bet you can’t eat all your breakfast or bet I get done with work before you do. Typically gambling in the truest sense involves betting or wagering something of value against some random event. Such as betting ten dollars that the Titans will beat the Bengals, you would have lost your money. You can gamble by throwing dice, which is also called casting lots. If we will remember, the first reference to throwing dice or casting a lot came at the foot of the cross where Jesus was crucified. John 19:24 tells us that the guards divided up Jesus’s clothes and gambled for the ownership. John 19:24 reads, “let not tear it but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.”
As the soldiers took part in this horrible behavior at the foot of the cross while Jesus was dying, the Bible does not warn against gambling but opens up about many other sins. The Tenth Commandment tells us not to covet the property of others, and the Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:5 to keep free from the love of money. The Bible warns us about getting rich with quick ideas and pursuing money that is not earned. Proverbs 21:5 tells us, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Gambling is a very sure way to gain wealth quickly but also a sure way to lose everything you may have.
So why am I talking about gambling and making wagers? It is important to remember that John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Also, Luke 23:43 states that Jesus said, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The King James version of the Bible mentions the word “heaven” 327 times in the Old Testament and 255 times in the New Testament. Now I want to tell you about a guy named Blaise Pascal.
Mr. Pascal was born in 1623 and died in 1662 at the age of 39. Mr. Pascal was a very active man in his short life. He was a mathematician, a philosopher who worked as a physicist, and a theologian. During the early 1600s, many people did not believe in God or Heaven. Those who believed in religion used it as a political tool to control the population. The Catholics were against the Protestants, and many chose not to participate in religion. As a result of the turmoil, many people argued that Heaven did not exist. Why try to live an honorable and decent life if there was no Heaven and eternal life? Would it not be more fun and profitable to live a wild life of moral decay and debauchery? The idea of being dead is just being dead. Mr. Pascal came up with the idea that if a rational person and a person that uses their brain to think and consider the long-run consequences would want to believe in God, and with that belief would also come the belief in Heaven. Suppose you live a good and Godly life, praying for forgiveness, treating people how you want to be treated, being honest in your daily activities, and loving your fellow man. In that case, you will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven. So, a rational-thinking man would bet or wager that there truly is a Heaven. People that do not believe in God and do not believe in Heaven can bet or wager against God and Heaven and live lives that are full of sin, full of immoral sex, full of alcohol and drugs, always subject to cheating or being cheated and from a strictly human attitude have much sinful fun. Or what we humans mistakenly believe is fun. This sinner or none believer would bet that there is no Heaven and not be concerned with eternality. The believer goes through life with a specific peace of mind enjoying the Peace of knowing Heaven is eternal. The sinner goes through life haphazardly, not caring what happens to their soul. The time for both of these individuals will come when their time on Earth is over. If there is no heaven, both the believer and the non-believer will just cease to exist, neither will be out of anything, and nothing will come of their death. However, if there is a Heaven, the believer will be delighted to enter into Heaven and spend eternity with God. John 14:2-3 describes Heaven stating, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”
Now we have to consider the non-believers that spent their lives living the way they saw fit and gambled and bet that there was no God and no Heaven. Those that bet against God and Heaven will be eternally punished for their foolish bet. Those that bet against God and Heaven will spend eternity in Hell. Revelation 20 talks about the non-believers and what they can expect their eternity to be like. Revelations talks about a lake of fire and brimstones, and those doomed to Hell will spend every moment of every minute in the lake of fire forever. Matthew 13:50 describes Hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jude 1:7 tells us about living in the eternal fire. If you have ever suffered from a burn, you know burning is a terrible pain to endure. Why do we as humans look into the face of God and dare him to punish us by going against His will and not believing and asking for eternal fire?
After reading what Mr. Pascal said, I believe that a thinking person should live as though God is real and seek to have faith in God. If God does not exist, such a person will only lose some pleasures, luxury, and a life of debauchery. But if God does exist, we stand to collect rewards beyond our comprehension, which would be spending eternity in Heaven and avoiding the horrible loss of spending eternity in Hell. We humans cannot even understand the meaning of Heaven’s greatness or Hell’s horrible punishment.
There is no such thing as a sure bet. But I am here to tell you that betting against God is a sure way to lose everything. Which way will you place your wager, For Heaven’s existence or against Heaven’s existence?