Good luck.
That's lucky.
As luck would have it.
You're just unlucky.
Better luck next time.
Luck is a word that I use a lot. It's part of my everyday speech. Like me you probably use some of those phrases on a daily basis. But have you ever thought what the word luck means? What are you really saying when you use the word luck? Is the word luck anti God?
Can you be lucky?
When we wish someone “good luck”, what are we saying? What we're doing is appealing to an outside force to look after that person. To protect them. To keep them from harm. To bless them with success.
When we say something is lucky, such as “it was really lucky the bus was running a few minutes late because otherwise I would have missed it”, what are we saying? What we're doing is crediting something good that happened to us to “luck”. We're thanking this outside force for looking after us and doing good things for us.
When luck replaces God
Do you see a problem here? When we use the word “luck”, we're cutting God out of our life. We're giving credit that belongs to God to “luck”. We're asking help from “luck” instead of asking God. “Luck” has become our idol. “Luck” has become our god. And we don't even know we're doing it.
Our God is a jealous God. He wants us to worship him alone. What was the first of the Ten Commandments, that God gave to Moses? “You shall no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) God treats this stuff seriously. The Old Testament is full of examples of God's people worshipping other gods and God punishing them as a result. Faithfulness to God is essential to being one of God's people.
As Christians, we recognise that Jesus is lord. “God exalted Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9) Jesus is above every name. Including “luck”. We cannot and should not give honour and worship to “luck”. That honour belongs to Jesus.
If you are a Christian, you need to scrub the word “luck” out of your vocabulary. “Luck” is a pagan god and has no place on the lips of Christians. Instead of saying “that's lucky”, praise God. Instead of saying “good luck”, pray for them. Ask God for help.
Luck is not a Christian idea. Believing in luck is offering yourself to a false god. This is something I struggle with. What about you?
It's time to cross the word “luck” out of your dictionary.