Grieving for Vegas

This past week I was in Las Vegas, attending a conference for work. This was the first time I had ever spent any time on the main strip, which is where my hotel was located. While I'm thankful that I didn't feel a pull to engage in any of the activities Vegas is known for I was still very bothered. During my free time my wife (Thank you for coming with me babe) and I made it our aim to spend some very valuable time together in what we considered safe environments. I was truly blessed that she was there with me and am quite sure that if she were not the time outside of the conference would have been utterly miserable.

Still, once we had left and started on our way home there were certain images seen from Las Vegas Blvd I found difficult to forget. One such image is that of a man that quite literally crossed my path our last day there. I don't know his story but I do know he's a man that has seen many many miles, and it showed. His clothing was utterly stained and tattered and seemingly free of any un-frayed edges. He seemed barely able to shuffle his feet across the sidewalk. His face also bore the harshness his life on the streets had become accustomed to as he held an expression void of emotion but whose eyes seemed to yearn for something, anything, better than he'd known.

While this man serves as only one example to me of the hurt and pain and disillusion of a city that glorifies every unholy thing there were also many others I will not soon forget. All of these people have, quite unknowingly I'm sure, been trapped by sin's allure. While I was tremendously bothered by the expressions of sin I saw so rampant I was also grieved for the many people there who live from day to day from the inside of a prison cell, and yet they do not know. Yet, I am also not so naive to not recognize that the same allures are not found in that city alone. Quite sadly they are nearly everywhere, though not often as available or obvious.

So tonight I grieve. I grieve for those that have been deceived by the hellish lies and the sin that promises to offer so much, but in the end only provides a cold floor and a door of bars. I pray that in such places the influence and love of Christ would break all bonds and that the captives there would truly be set free. Won't you join me in praying for them too?

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Galatians 5:13-14