Make Your Own Luck

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

—Proverbs 11:28

I flipped the page of my “grandchildren” calendar to the month of March and chuckled at the picture of Addie and Eli captioned “Make Your Own Luck.” They were making faces—with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head’s interchangeable parts, Addie with a mouth as wide as a rainbow and ears fit for a leprechaun, and both of them in hats, Addie’s purple and Eli’s a St. Paddy’s Day green. 

But how do you make your own luck? Isn’t luck a chance happening? Like something we wish for?

While we know that searching for lucky four-leafed clovers and the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow is all fun and games and Irish folklore, many folks are searching for their lucky break.

If I could just win the Powerball jackpot. If I could just win the Mega Millions, I would be set for life. I would truly be happy.

If you won, your level of happiness may initially surge, but it won’t last. Research reveals that lottery winners’ level of happiness returns to their pre-winning level after a few months. And most likely you wouldn’t be set for life either. Lottery winners spend close to half of the earnings in the first five years and many go bankrupt.

We can’t trust in riches. If we do, the Bible says we will fall.

So is there any hope? Can we truly be set for life?

There may be some Irish legends worth considering. Perhaps you’ve heard the true story of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, one leaf each for God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. But have you heard the legend that the four-leafed clover stands for faith, hope, love, and the fourth leaf luck? Have you heard that some Christians viewed the four-leafed clover as lucky for its resemblance to the cross and that the fourth leaf symbolizes the grace of God?

Grace means to get something that you do not deserve—unmerited favor. Luck is defined as a force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities. Luck leaves God out of the picture. But the truth is nothing happens without the approval of God. And it is only by His grace that we can truly be set for life.

For it is by grace that the gift of salvation is made available to all (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“For our sake He [God] made Christ to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus took the punishment for our sins so we wouldn’t have to—He died on the cross in our place. When we confess our sins and accept the gift of salvation, we are promised an eternal home in heaven, an everlasting life.

How do we accept it? Well, Addie’s get-up gives us a clue.

First, we hear the good news and faith takes root.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

We believe the Word, and we confess it.

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, emphasis mine).

Salvation is a re-birth—a new life.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We become a new person. We have switched teams and are now in Christ—it’s like putting on a new hat.

So can you really make your own luck? No, you can’t. But you can make decisions that affect your fortune. Make a decision today to accept Jesus as Savior. Spin around from the direction you are heading and pursue a new life with an eternal reward worth far more than a pot of gold or any jackpot you could ever win from spinning the carnival wheel or playing the lottery.

Riches are uncertain, but you can trust God, for He will richly provide you with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17)—including a new life that is as fresh and vibrant as a green leaf.

Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and for Your free gift of salvation, a treasure more valuable than gold. Thank You for grace, which gives me the opportunity to turn over a new leaf and start a life with You that will outlast every calendar. And thank You for sweet faces and Irish symbols that remind me how “lucky” I truly am. Amen.