Promises, promises, promises!

So, as the highlight of the Labour Party Conference, we had the Prime Minister promise a range of ‘new’ policies and ideas. The English (and Welsh?) are going to have free personal care for the elderly – already provided by the Scottish government; there is a promise of a referendum on a proportional representation form of voting in General Elections – but there are various methods, not all of which are as fair as might at first seem to be the case; there is a promise that where a Member of Parliament is found to be financially corrupt, or guilty of some other wrong-doing, constituents will have the right to “recall” him/her – but, of course, if party leadership, and Parliament as a whole, had even a modicum of courage, they would ensure that such dishonourable members be sacked, and a by-election called immediately.

And so the speech went on. Plenty about what a new Labour government would do if it were to be elected to a further term of office. What was strikingly missing was any reference to “the end of ‘boom and bust’”; to the broken promise of a referendum on the European Constitution/Lisbon Treaty (being voted on today, for a second time, by the Irish – because ‘Europe’ doesn’t like it when anyone says ‘No’!); to the sale of so much of the U.K’s gold reserve – when gold was at its lowest value; to cash for honours; to the doubling of Council Tax (except in Scotland where the Scottish Government have held the rate for two years); etc., etc., etc.

The bottom line, it seems to me, is that Mr Brown is not a man who may be trusted with regard to any promise that he might make – least of all promises made just months before he is obliged to go to the country in a General Election!

How different from Jesus. His promise is that He will be with His people always (Matt.28:20) – and countless numbers have proved Him down through the centuries. He also promised difficulty and trouble – and whether in the relatively safe ‘West’ or in one of more than fifty countries world-wide in which disciples of Jesus are persecuted, imprisoned, and killed, this promise has also been proved to have been kept. That’s why, when I read the promise that He will return – next time, not as a helpless infant, but as the glorious King – I have every confidence that that promise will also be kept.

Maranatha – Come, Lord Jesus!