I originally visited this website just for fun but it has really made me think. I had forgotten just where I stood compared to the rest of the world. I had forgotten about the abject poverty that in which most of the world's population. Almost because of their accessibility and exposure on the news or the internet and in books and magazines, I had become desensitised to the plight of billions of people; men, women and children all made in God's image and loved by God.

I find myself horrified at just how far up the scale I am as I sit in the top 0.67% richest people in the world. And what have I done with it? What do I with all this comparative wealth that God has given me? Where is MY treasure?

A friend was involved in a discussion about purity. She was asked, "God shouldn't care about who I want to sleep with. Why isn't he dealing with important issues, like sorting out famine?" The truth, as she pointed out, is that he has sorted out famine! There is more than enough food, money, fresh water, in the world for us all, yet we (and it is we in the West who are to blame for this) have hoarded greedily and kept it from others. Often in these countries, there is then a layer of corruption which prevents the food, which we have so grudgingly given, from getting to people in need.

This has challenged me to urgently consider how and where I spend my money. Just as we are reminded in the parable of the talents, we are to be responsible stewards of the time, gifts and money God has given to us. These are not entrusted to us because of any inherent good in us, but we are called to use them for God's glory and for building up his kingdom. As I sit here typing on a laptop computer, after a tasty dinner in a warm house, with my lights blazing and my washing machine churning away, knowing there is clean water directly into my house, about to have a leisurely hot bath in a room complete with flushable toilet, I pray that I will not let money become an idol for me but that I will use everything I have to God's glory, knowing where my true treasure lies.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21