What is so exciting about a quiz on Saturday evening? Are the questions interesting? Is there a dynamic presenter? Perhaps. But without any doubt it is largely all about the money.

That is why the program is called what it is; with twenty correct answers you can become a millionaire. Get rich in one fell swoop!

It could happen to you. What if you could sit in that chair? The high ratings tell us that many people like to share in all the excitement. They can imagine that they are the candidate, they think of the answers, but also the considerations: play on or stop, how big is the gamble?

You can win a lot of money, but also lose much in a second. And in between you get to watch the winning numbers from the lottery; how many millions in the jackpot today?

A Quick Scratch⤒🔗

And have you already scratched today? It makes your day more exciting if you believe what the ad tells you. When you are at the pharmacy to get a new toothbrush, you can buy some scratch tickets at the till at the same time. They are clearly displayed, so they are hard to miss.

Sorry, you must be above 18, otherwise you cannot deal with this responsibly. For most people this is not an issue, they have reached an age when they know how to spend their money wisely.

One Chance, That Is It←⤒🔗

The problem is, however, that you often end up with empty hands. Becoming a millionaire through the lottery happens to very few people. And even though you really could identify with the candidate in the quiz, he goes home with money and for you the show is over.

You imagine something, you think of something, and then it is gone. It goes right past you.

Then better to do some scratching. Smaller amounts, but perhaps more chances. Although, it does not go so well. You must purchase a lot of tickets for something exciting to happen. It is not so easy. Perhaps try out a few more tickets. Luck will land in your lap sooner or later, or will it?

A Fake World 1←⤒🔗

Before you know it, you have landed in a fake world. Luck is shown to you, the chances are coming at you in super-size format, large amounts are shown on the screen. They hijack your thoughts, and your desires grow. You think of what you could get, but do not have. The craving becomes so strong that you start to invest in it…and then suddenly, everything is gone. Just like a soap-bell.

Vanity, the Preacher would say. Men stay behind disappointed by all that could have been. Yes, what if that happens to you? Your beautiful dreams — gone. Your ideals — in reality you make a hard landing.

A Fake World 2←⤒🔗

There is also another side to this. When your thoughts live in a fake world, in unreachable ideals, then reality gets a different colour. She becomes ash-grey, she disappoints, for more and more you get the feeling that you are standing there with empty hands. In other words: you no longer see what you do have. You do not appreciate the “‘regular” things anymore, your food and drink, your clothing, the roof over your head, your education, your job, too much to mention. It makes you miserable.

The knife apparently cuts on both sides: you cannot get all you would like to have, and what you do have has lost its luster for you. In this way you are being tackled twice.

Faith←⤒🔗

And then we have not even mentioned the actual problem yet. For in this manner much more is being lost, and especially as a Christian you get to see this. That regular townhouse you live in, the common clothing you are wearing, and the furniture that could easily enjoy an upgrade, it all has special value for the person who believes. For you have received it from God. And not just received, it has been paid for with precious blood. This is the shine which covers all you have. Can you then never change something for something newer and better? Of course you can, you even must do so, for everything is perishable. But not without having thanked the Lord for it. The house that you live in, the clothes you wear, the possibilities you have been given, they are all gifts which are good for you. These have been given to you with love. How deeply unhappy you are if you become blind to all these things. Then you have truly been tackled.

Effort←⤒🔗

The terror of the chances and the desires has no other purpose than to kidnap you out of God’s world. You are being blinded by that reality, with the purpose of starting to build your own world. And then you keep it up, even though it does not work. For perhaps it will work next week. That chance is there every week.

This is how an idol is born. From your own desires. And you learn right away what an idol is: something that catches you, that makes you into a slave. This is how you get farther and farther away from home, from the house of the Father where everyone is free.

It is the beginning of sin: wanting to have more and wanting to be more than what you receive or are. You do not see the paradise anymore where you may live but are focussed on the one tree that you have not received. We are all tainted with that sin. This is why we can be tempted so quickly. The idol shows up just like that.

But then suddenly you see the effort it takes: it is not the money you paid for the ticket that allowed you to win or to lose. The effort is yourself, if you want to live with Christ or not. Or that you continuously look past him, to become happy some other way.

Promises←⤒🔗

When you start to see this, your salvation has begun, straight from heaven. The central question from Jesus is: Who am I?

With this question he draws our attention to himself: Who am I for you?

This makes us think, it makes us ponder. To subsequently discover that in him we receive more than we could ever imagine or desire. Surprisingly so.

Through our desires we are stranded and get lost time and again. God’s answer is to give us more than we can imagine.

It does not always look like that. He does not give us everything we ask of him. And yet it is true: what he does give is always more than we can understand. For God gives himself, his Son, his Spirit, his love, his attention, and with that he gives us his kingdom, the world and all that it contains. What is there, outside of him, left to be desired?

We are not in the atmosphere of the chances, that fake world anymore. No, now we look at the promises held out for us, promises we can trust. Promises which do not disappear when we get a hold of them. No vanity, but reality. What a difference. And so a (wo)man finds rest. And (s)he comes home, as rich as a millionaire!