When I was a youngster my Dad insisted that I finish all the food on my plate. He explained that there are starving children who would love to have my uneaten vegetables. At that young and tender age I would have gladly packaged my broccoli or cabbage and sent it off to them! Dad, like many others, had come through World War II with some terrible memories. In Burma he and many soldiers had eaten rodents and other things normally considered inedible to stay alive. For him to see his children wasting food was troubling.

Since the end of World War II the Western world has experienced an almost unprecedented period of prosperity. But the majority of humanity looks on in amazement at what we waste.

We have forgotten what rationing was like. And in most European and North American nations even the 'down and out' can turn to a variety of organisations for help.

But the problem of feeding today's third world communities is almost inconceivable. The number needing improved nutrition is so vast! Then there's the problem that food scarcity is also tied inextricably to local politics, deep-seated cultural beliefs and tribal ways of life—including the benign acceptance of the 'might is right' view of authority. Severe weather conditions and changing rainfall patterns also hinder efforts to increase crop production.

What does this have to do with you and me?

We have a responsibility on our national shoulders to use wisely the resources that our God has given us. Our Creator inspired this biblical warning for our benefit: " You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth ... " (Deuteronomy 8:18, NIV).

How greatly that applies to us today! The United Kingdom and the United States once spread the Hebrew Scriptures around the world. Yet today many of our people have been taken in by the deceptive theory of evolution—embracing a view of creation without a Creator, life without a Life-giver, acknowledging design without acknowledging the Designer and living seemingly without a purpose.

Too many seem to have forgotten why our Creator has given us the vast wealth we enjoy. As we drive by our mountains of waste—our landfills with scavenger fowls circling overhead—do we ever consider what we are doing to ourselves through our wasteful way of life? We provide ourselves every comfort and entertaining experience as we bury our heads to the real state of the world.

There is too little thought for the unprivileged poor of mankind. We pour poisons into our rivers which flow into the oceans killing the marine life. We allow industrial and domestic gases to flow into the atmosphere—then we refuse to accept the evidence that we are changing the global environment. How do we explain that to the Inuit who is unable to step out onto their once-thick Alaskan ice for fear of it breaking off as the oceans warm?

Have you personally considered seriously that there could be a reason why God gave the world's major English speaking nations their wealth? Do you know the story of how God gave us our abundant blessings so we could set the right example for the rest of the world?

It's a story you must read. But first, consider what the Scriptures say about the national responsibility of a blessed people. Concerning God's teachings, they explain: " You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!' For what other great nation ... has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?" (Deuteronomy 4:6, NRSV).

If we would only apply all of God's teachings and then follow the sentiment of waste not, want not, our blessings could flow out to many other nations who would then have reason to sincerely respect our professed Judeo-Christian way of life. God expects much more of those "to whom much is given" (Luke 12:47-48).