To those of us living in Las Vegas there are times when we have an opportunity to see things that no place on earth have witnessed. We arrived in 1974 and the population was 240,000. Many of the casinos were motels. We were surrounded by desert. Go any direction and in 15 minutes you would see nothing but sagebrush and sand. That would be from the edge of town to the other side. There was practically nothing south of Eastern and Sunset. Going west there was not much on the other side of Decatur. It was back when football was a major draw and we had season tickets and basketball was on its way to becoming the “Running Rebels”.

We were able to watch as the Las Vegas Strip began to expand. Each new casino was trying to outdo the latest to be built. We went to the Golden Nugget because they had one of the best buffets in town. Half of my meal was their bread pudding.

By 1998 the Bellagio Casino had its dancing water fountains and the Mirage with its volcano eruption. Las Vegas continued to grow and building kept surpassing most everyone’s expectations. Five years ago they started the City Centers 8.5 billion dollar project. Rarely do we go to the “Strip” but from time to time we would drive by and see these huge buildings coming out of the ground.

December 15th the night prior to the grand opening of the Aria Casino we walked through a packed house of MGM Mirage employees who had been invited to test before the grand opening. We ate at one of their restaurants and spent hours wandering through the mammoth casino. We can attest to everything good that has been said about City Center. Later we slept in one of their rooms and when I was a child it was something that would have been in “Buck Rogers”, the future in 100 years. Everything but the shower was computerized.

We have a tremendous advantage as Christians. No matter how elaborate we build on earth, what Christ went to prepare for us is far greater than anything we can imagine. John 14:3 – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Have you ever thought about what Christ has prepared for us? Would it not be more fantastic than anything we could even dream? We may not be able to live like kings on this earth but what Christ provides will be far greater than anything on this planet. Why wouldn’t everyone want to accept Christ as their Savior so that they could live with Him through eternity? There are no limitations on what He can build or do. Isn’t living for Him now, better than living as the world lives and ending up in the wrong place later? The rich man and the poor man, Lazarus both went to Shoal, Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom and paradise and the rich man suffered giving us an indication of what the rich man and those of the world have in store on death. However, the world is filled with gamblers and living in Las Vegas we realize how many lose!