Proverbs 10:9 People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall
Proverbs 12:22 The Lord hates those who don’t keep their word, but he delights in those who do
I could have filled this page with verses from the old and new testaments pointing out in no uncertain terms how we should behave towards others in this life. With a General Election happening tomorrow, I didn’t think it would do any harm to consider some words of scripture that would allow us to stack them up against what the folks competing for our vote say and do and how they behave and react.
Honesty is marked as being free from deceit or untruthfulness and being sincere. The Christian life should be one marked with integrity and honesty, yet because we all sin and find it easy to do so, honesty is something we all must work hard at! An honest life is important on so many levels from relationships with spouses and children, relationships at our workplace and at home and in the ways we interact with our friends, neighbours and everyone else with whom we come into contact.
There’s a few strange things about this election. For a start, why would an election be called at this time of year when many are on holiday? I have a friend who works with one of the local councils and they have received an appeal from the chief executive asking them to work additional hours to help man polling stations and assist with the postal votes. Normally, this would not present a great problem but due to Schools being off and many families off on holiday, it most certainly is a problem for this election. There have also been some accusations about the Royal Mail being slow to deal with postal votes but the Royal Mail say this is not the case. Why do folks have to bring photo I.D. to the polling station when they come to vote? I have worked at many elections over the last thirty years, and this has never been a requirement before. I don’t believe the integrity of this system has ever been called into question in all these years so why change? I have also spoken to a couple of people who just don’t possess photo I.D. and another who has missed the deadline to apply for it. Could all these issues have been put in place just to give some folks or some political party some sort of advantage?
To me, all the issues mentioned do not suggest the arrangements for this election have been put together with honesty and integrity. Voting is an entitlement for everyone and complicating the process and timing just makes it more difficult than it need be to use this entitlement. ‘Those who follow crooked paths will slip and fail’.
Prayer - Heavenly Father, we come to you in Jesus’ name, and we ask that you reveal to us any areas of our lives where we may be lacking integrity. We pray and ask that you would work deep in our hearts to deal with these challenges, so that we can do our best to be complete and whole before you, and the same person no matter where we are, or who we are with. Amen.
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