Ecclesiastes 6:7: Be Happy in What You Have

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Eccl 6:7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.


Last night we had a mega-buck drawing for the lottery, and people lined up, knowing the odds, to have a chance for happiness.

I, too, considered it. For two bucks and billion-to-one chance, I could win half-a-billion dollars. But would it make me happy?

Oh, baby, yeah, says my soul.
Oh, Carol, no, says the preacher.

Look at previous lottery winners: Hurley from Lost?

Okay. Hurley, like the characters in my novels, is not real. But previous lottery winners have run into all sorts of unhappiness. This morning's paper ran an article about a homeless man who won a big lottery in Florida. He gave to many charities, was befriended by a "financial adviser" who eventually killed him.

And beyond this recent news maker, many lottery winners end up in despair. Why? I think the reason is obvious. If don't treasure what we already have, we'll never treasure what we gain. Happiness is not dependent on our status, rather on our state of mind. Which brings us back to Hurley. He'd never been happy to begin with.

Be happy in your life...or nothing could change it.
How could the lottery change your life?