It’s time to get back on to the red letters so here goes:

Luke 12:48

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

There are hard words for us in the first world countries, especially us in the United States. Some say these words only refer to spiritual matters but I don’t buy that at all! We spend more on our Starbucks coffee in a year than most third world people earn. How can so many of us ignore the needs in so much of the world? We have been blessed by God to not have to worry about much of the daily matters of life. Even with our current economic problems for the most part all of us have a nice home, plenty to eat (probably too much given the obesity prevalent in our societies). Even thoough it has been constantly shrinking in the last decade we have a safety net under us if, God forbid, we should lose our jobs or tragedy should strike.

 I know you have heard me say this so many times but I am going to say it again (and again). There are almost 30,000 people per day dying in third world countries due to starvation and inadequate drinking water! That is ten World Trade Centers in deaths every day! Shame on us for allowing this to continue; we have the ability to solve this today if only our hearts weren’t hardened, or at least numbed, to the need. Yes there are many organizations working on this problem but for the most part they are drastically underfunded. Many of the more successful organization depend on private donations. One close to my heart is “Bread for the World”. As they say on their website http://www.bread.org/

Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live.

  There are also organizations with most Christian denominations that help feed third world countries. So there are no excuses for us not doing this. Some of the first words Jesus used to open his ministry was that he was bringing the good news to the poor. Let us follow His lead and bring the good news and some food to a family desperately in need. One who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. That includes almost all of us in first world countries. Let’s give up a cup of Starbucks coffee and instead send the money to feed an entire family for that day.