Vishal from India was visiting in Holland. One day his Dutch host invited him to come along while he was getting some fresh milk. The cleanliness of the dairy immediately impressed Vishal. It had about hundred cows but there was hardly any smell. Even more surprising to him was the fact that there were no attendants. The feeding, cleaning, even milking of the cows was completely automated. At home in India, Vishal tried to run a small farm with four cows to allow his family and village access to fresh dairy products. It took two men to do all the chores and the smell was always bad.
As the two entered a side room, Vishal expected that his friend would ring for a sales clerk in order to get his milk but there was no one there. Instead, his friend placed his jug under the faucet of the large milk tank and filled it up. Then he reached for a basket up on a windowsill. It was full of money. He placed a 20 guilders bill into the basket, took some change and put it back. Vishal was astonished. Back in India, he mused, people would not only take the milk but also the money. In some other countries, people might not only take the milk and the money, but also the cows, he laughed to himself. He wondered why people in Holland would not do the same. Why could the dairy owner trust others?
The reason is that Dutch people have been taught God’s Commandments for many years, beginning with the Reformation, when the Bible became widely available to all in their own language. The seventh commandment states: “You shall not steal!” By honoring that commandment, trust was built that people would do the right thing, even if no one looked. This trust formed the basis for a flourishing economy, not like in Vishal’s country, where theft, bribery, and corruption hinders economic growth and confines millions of his people to poverty.
Vishal thought to himself, this is also the reason why a tiny country like Holland has surpluses, which it can generously give to countries like India, many times bigger than it.
Trust is a powerful force for good—but it cannot be had without the law giver, Creator God! Without following his law, which is our “true north,” even prosperous and free nations as Holland or the United States will cease to be so. The distrust created by thieving, corrupt movers and shakers on Wall Street, causing our economy to enter a serious downward spin, triggering a massive bail-out by the government, serves as a recent example.
The best thing you and I can do to promote a healthy economy is to repent for breaking God’s Commandments and resolve to honor and obey them!
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