We just returned from a trip to Las Vegas on business. That place is bright! While some casinos have started using more solar energy, a recent report indicated the Las Vegas Strip consumes 8,000 megawatts of electricity per day. At .18 per kilowatt, that would cost over $1.4 million daily! But before you start feeling sorry for the hotels on the Strip, consider that they raked in $8.3 billion last year in gambling profit alone. That doesn’t count their revenue for rooms, food, beverages (mostly alcohol) and the array of nightly shows at $100+ per seat. Our function was held at the lavish Venetian complex, complete with canals, gondolas, and luxury stores that display just a few items widely spaced on a shelf. (If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.)
This town isn’t known for its virtues, but rather for its vice. Appropriately nicknamed “Sin City,” Vegas makes every temptation the world has to offer readily available to visitors. Prostitution is legal there and gambling is everywhere. There are even digital slot machines at the airport gates. I watched people seemingly entranced by the flashing screens of 6-foot tall video slot machines as they repeatedly pressed the button for their next spin, or should I say, next spend, because every press cost them money. (Investopedia reports the odds on slot machines as ranging from a one-in-5,000 to one-in-about-34-million chance of winning the top prize when using the maximum coin play.)
The Bible describes it all as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Some go to Vegas for the excitement and its novelty–a one-of-a-kind destination. For many, gambling there constitutes a form of entertainment for which they are willing to pay, knowing the odds are stacked against them but hoping for the adrenaline rush of a win. We walked through several big hotels with indistinguishable casinos. People seemed to be gambling all night, and I even saw people at it before seven in the morning. Yet I recall few smiles or laughter at these tables and wildly flashing machines. It all felt empty.
Maybe that’s because none of it can satisfy in the long run. No amount of money, no sexual encounter, could ever fill the deepest longings in a person’s heart, because those depend on relationships. The most important one is with God. When that one is right, it helps transform one’s other relationships for the better.
For me, the highlight of the trip was the chance to pray for a few people. One worked at the front desk of a hotel, another was a housekeeper who barely spoke English but whom God touched, and the third was at an airport duty-free shop. There are lots of lights and many distractions in Las Vegas, but Jesus is the light of the world. He is the only one who can supply forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and unconditional love and acceptance. He is the only One who can take away all our sin, removing it from us as far as the east is from the west. That’s a bigger win than any jackpot can offer!
