Grace Church Summer Reading Program: Lord, Make My Life a Miracle by Ray and Anne Ortlund. Commitment Three: Give yourself to this needy world

“If you could shrink the whole world of people down to just 100 in number, out of the 100 there would be:

57 Asians,

21 Europeans,

14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America, and

8 Africans.

52 would be female; 48 would be male.

70 would be non-white; 30 would be white.

70 would be non-Christians; 30 would be Christians.

6 of them would own 59 percent of the world’s wealth, and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing.

70 would be unable to read.

50 would suffer from malnutrition.

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth.

Only 1 would have a college education.

Only 1 would own a computer.

If you can attend church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you’re more blessed than three billion people in this world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of the world.

If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you’re among the top 8 percent of the world’s wealthy.”

These words from the final section of our summer reading book, Lord, Make My Life a Miracle, graphically underscore the incredible blessings that most of us enjoy on a daily basis. They also remind us that when God distributes material and social blessings to a person or a people it is so they can in turn bless the world.

In Genesis 12:2-3 the Lord said to Abraham: “…I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Since we are Abraham’s descendants (Galatians 3:29), let’s ask the Lord for the heart and will to do our part in blessing the world around us.