Money has got a hold on you if you have a get-rich-quick mentality. “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows (Proverbs 13:11, NLT).

A young man stood in front of me at the post office scratching a lottery ticket. I couldn’t help but ask, “Have you ever won?”

“I won R500 once and R200,” he replied.

“How long have you been playing?”

He thought for a moment. “About seven years.”

“How much do you spend a week?”

“Ah, only about R20.”

I pulled out my cell phone and typed the numbers into the calculator. He watched the screen. 20 (Rand) x 52 (weeks) x 7 (years) = R7280.

“Ah, you’ve spent approximately R7280 on lottery tickets. Have you ever won R7280?”

“Well, no...” he replied, scratching his head.

“You could have,” I said, “if you had saved that money instead of playing the lottery. Even more, if you count all the interest you could’ve earned on it.” There is a cost that comes with get-rich-quick schemes…. Faithfulness is the only sure bet for genuine riches.

*This blog is an excerpt from my book, The Moneyverse. To learn how you can be free from the grip of money, get your copy now from our online bookstore.