Chocolate

Read: Matthew 7:7-11

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (v. 8)

Every time my family has a bonfire, my nephews and niece ask for s’mores. My mom always has graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate ready for them. Our family isn’t unusual. Unfortunately, most of us probably don’t realize that this common treat is tied to slavery. According to a Washington Post article “Cocoa’s Child Laborers,” most chocolate bars sold in the United States are the product of child labor in West Africa.

In February 2019, along with other major chocolate companies, Hershey issued a statement against slavery and human trafficking, promising to stop using “forced and illegal child labor” to produce their chocolate and other candy products. For decades, governments and human rights organizations had been appealing to them to reassess their standards, and they listened. Score one for Hershey, and may we all now have peace of mind when we eat our summer s’mores.

Change takes time. In today’s passage, Jesus encouraged us to be persistent. Sometimes we have to knock for a long time before the door opens. I heard once that if a door doesn’t open, keep knocking because eventually it will break down. Some-times we have to fight for things that are right even when someone is choosing to ignore something so obviously wrong. —Kelly Brace

As you pray, ask God to continue to break down closed doors so people can be freed from slavery.