So I treated someone who is very dear to me to a couple of days of fun doing something that he loves for his very special birthday. This person loves to play video poker, so off we went to a casino. I haven’t been inside one in many years and was shocked at what I saw.
It was like walking through the visiting room of a prison and then out onto the yard. Hardscrabble rough looking people filled the casino. Most were in need of a haircut, had bad teeth, wore tattered clothes and looked as though they were the last persons on the planet who could afford to gamble away their money. And gamble it away they were doing; (they didn’t build those big beautiful buildings with the money they lost folks).
Too it was the strangest thing, everywhere I looked people were smoking cigarettes.
Huh?
It was like stepping back in time to fifty years ago. Haven’t these folks heard of lung cancer? I didn’t know that smoking was still allowed in public places anymore, but smoking was allowed everywhere in the casino, even in the restaurant. My eyes are still burning, my throat is raw, and I suppose I’ll have to throw away the clothes I wore because they smell like a stale cigarette this morning.
Barf . . .
Most folks were unsmiling and seemed obsessed with the task of busily cramming more money into slot machines of every description. There are even options entitled, “speed”, on them that are designed to speed up the process of being able to put money in at a faster clip. (I bet some slot machine designer got a handsome bonus for dreaming that one up.)
People were frowning, smoke was hanging over the area like an unhealthy looking fog, bells were dinging, machines were whirring, sirens blaring, and the deafening din of it all was very disconcerting, especially as compared to the friendly smiling faces, silence, and fresh air of Honey Lake.
So why do people do it?
Hmmm . . . A few weeks ago a buddy of mine and I went to the Florida Keys. We stopped at a little convenience store and I went in to buy a soft drink and candy bar. The cashier rang up my purchase and then asked, “Do you want to buy a lottery ticket?”
I looked at her with amusement and said, “No ma’am I don’t play the lottery”.
She shrugged and said, “It’s up to $600 million.”
I smiled and quickly said, “Give me $20 worth please!”
She laughed and ran out 10 tickets.
The next morning I looked on the Internet and sure enough someone had bought the winning ticket in Florida.
“Whoa Nellie! Could it be me? Please Lord – Please Lord let it be me! I could do so much good with that money for our Worldwide Ministry.”
It was then that the article revealed that the winning ticket was not purchased anywhere near where I bought mine.
Sigh . . .
Duhhh . . . People gamble to try and win money silly . . .
Gambling is not specifically mentioned as a sin in the Bible. Some rail against it and use the catch-all admonition in the Bible that states don’t do anything that does not bring honor and glory to the Lord . . . Gambling doesn’t and thus we shouldn’t gamble. I think that is a pretty tight and tiny line to walk if you want to get on that high wire; (how does water skiing, turkey hunting, or playing golf honor God?)
Some argue that those who can least afford it are the ones that are throwing away their grocery money and welfare checks. Yep, they are, but I saw hundreds of people working good jobs catering to them too, so I suppose a little good comes out of the bad as with most things.
I suppose we could try to prohibit casinos and the lottery, but people would still find ways to try to fulfill their dream of finally hitting it big on football pools, backroom poker games, numbers, crap games, or whatever.
I imagine God shakes his head in disgust at many of the pleasures sought out by mankind. I’m sure that contrasts greatly with His view of peaceful paradises such as Honey Lake. It surely puts a smile on my face to think of home and the eagles soaring. God’s majesty is hard to discover in a casino, or a bar. For me it’s difficult even inside a city. Give me the countryside, pure and sweet to discover God’s Holy presence; a place of sweet retreat where I can pray and live and love the life He has given me . . . Turns out that I’m not the only one who likes it.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!
Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.