Lured in

 

Attractive, right? Can’t you just picture yourself going into this lovely establishment and really enjoying yourself? Really loving your time there? Doesn’t the inscription on the side, “Play! Fun!” just tell you you’re going to have a ball? Don’t you think Boobs McGee, who I had to black out, is just waiting to laugh at all your jokes and make you feel like a man? Or, ladies, can’t you just picture yourself in there, being all sexy like her?

Oh? No? You think it wouldn’t be so fun in the Las Vegas Shack? You’d probably enter a tiny room, full of stale smoke, with a scruffy old man, probably not bathed in a week, and maybe a slot machine? Oh, and don’t forget the wódka. Huh. That’s funny. That doesn’t sound fun at all…

The first time I saw this place I was caught off guard, because it’s not something you’d see in the States. I literally stopped in my tracks. I was amazed for a moment that anyone could possibly be allured by this dumpster-sized building. Who really thinks they might be able to go into that building and find any sort of enjoyment, any satisfaction? Who thinks life will get better after a couple hours spent there? No one in their right mind!

But I can imagine who would decide to frequent it anyway… I can imagine someone addicted to gambling, who just ‘needed’ the hope of hitting the jackpot. I can imagine someone who years ago, in their first forays into sin, saw it as a way to relax, have fun… Someone who soon became trapped and out of control.

I can imagine it, because I know what it’s like to feel trapped in sin. I've called mine "sin" for years, but not really. Not the kind of sin Jesus died for. Not the kind of sin that separates me from God.

One thing that strikes me about this place is that it can only exist because Las Vegas exists. No one would ever be allured by this place if they didn’t already have it in their minds that sexy women, drinking, gambling, etc. are just so much fun. And that’s the way sin works in our lives too. Whatever it is that we satisfy ourselves with- whatever it is we use for fun, comfort, pleasure, pride- anything that’s not Jesus, will start fun but end up enslaving us. It will be pleasurable at first, and end up making us like the drug addict who feels less and less high, but needs more and more drug. Like the alcoholic who sees the destruction and pain they cause, but still needs a drink. Sin, our addictions, may be fun for a (brief!) season, but will soon lead to destruction.

Thankfully I see how ridiculous the LV Shack is. God is gently pressing on me that those things which do entice me, the things I am lured in by, are equally ridiculous. Who would choose that pitiful facsimile of fun instead of peace and joy with God? 

Me.

I do.

We all have sin we struggle with. Whatever entices us is just as absurd as thinking you can go into that building and feel fulfilled.

God, I thank you that you came to die, even for the most absurd sins. While we were yet choosing our ridiculous little pleasures, you died for us. Thank you that you took the punishment that should by mine.

Food for further thought:

• Romans 5:8
• Romans 8:1-4
• Psalm 107
• Philippians 4:19
• John 3:16-21