On November 15, 2006, Abraham Lee Shakespeare stopped at the Town Star convenience store in Frostproof, Florida, to buy a soft drink. He had $5 to his name, and he spent $2 of that on a couple of lottery tickets. One of the tickets won big. Shakespeare became a millionaire – 30 times over.
Two years later, a woman named Dee Dee Moore arranged to meet Shakespeare under the guise of writing a book about him. She soon won his trust, and then his heart. After convincing him to live together and share their bank accounts, Moore reported Shakespeare missing. There was a reason he was missing.
Dee Dee Moore killed Abraham Shakespeare and buried him near their house. For that, she will spend the rest of her life in prison.
Solomon, who was worth a lot more than $30 million, summarized his worldly possessions with one word – meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1).
Dee Dee Moore won’t be the last person to chase money at the expense of her own soul. But I suspect that if we could talk to her in prison, she’d say it wasn’t worth it. It never is.
Recovery Step: What are you chasing today? The story of every addict is the story of chasing the next “big fix” that will finally satisfy. It never does. Then answer? Trust God instead.
