Poor Jack Whittaker
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http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Heavenly Connection
Poor Jack Whittaker
by Tim Hall
Can you feel pity for Jack Whittaker? You really
should try, though for some it won't be easy.
On Christmas 2002, Jack Whittaker of Winfield, WV
won the Powerball Lottery. His prize of $314.9
million was the largest single prize ever won in
U.S. lottery history.
Pity this man? Please, hear the rest of Jack's
story.
According to an article carried by the Associated
Press on March 11, 2004, Jack's office was broken
into on Tuesday of this past week and $2,000 was
taken. Two days later, thieves broke into his
vehicle as it sat outside his home and made off
with undisclosed property.
Earlier in the week, an employee of a local casino
filed charges that Jack Whittaker had assaulted
her in March 2003. Jack has made no formal
response and no criminal charges have been filed.
There's more. In January of this year, Jack
Whittaker was charged with threatening to kill the
manager of a local bar and with drunken driving.
In that same month, $100,000 was taken from his
vehicle. Four months before, $500,000 he was
carrying in a briefcase was taken from him after
he was drugged at a strip club.
We suspect this is not the end of Jack Whittaker's
woes.
As we consider the saga of this "lucky" man, let's
also be sure to consider the words of Ecclesiastes
5:11,12: "When goods increase, they increase who
eat them; so what profit have the owners except to
see them with their eyes? The sleep of a laboring
man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but
the abundance of the rich will not permit him to
sleep." Do you have trouble understanding what
this passage means? Consider the experience of
Jack Whittaker.
Whittaker's experience also helps us to see the
truthfulness of 1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which
some have strayed from the faith in their
greediness, and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows." (Do I hear an "Amen" from Winfield,
West Virginia?)
What could be better than winning the biggest
jackpot of all time? Here's God's answer: "Now
godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim.
6:6). "Great gain" isn't measured in dollars and
cents; it's measured in peace of mind and
contentment.
Now can you feel pity for poor Jack Whittaker?
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