Och Aye or Och Nae?

I’m not really a political animal. Have you guessed how I vote by the things I say? Well, about as floating as any voter can be, I tend to mark my X against whichever candidate I think is most likely to do what Jesus would do, whatever colour rosette they wear.

I’m writing this on the eve of the independence referendum in Scotland. It is ‘on a knife edge’ according to the media. 'Too close to call.' 

If I lived north of the border I’m not sure how I’d vote. The UK attributes more of its budget proportionately to Scotland than to Wales or England so secession might damage the economy, hitting the most vulnerable in Scotland hardest. So maybe I’d vote No. On the other hand, I would like the chance to rid my country of weapons of mass destruction and spend the money saved on aid, poverty, health and education. So maybe I’d vote Yes.

The No campaign has made much of the risks involved in independence making some alarming predictions of an unstable future in the event of a split. But I don't recall Slovakia and the Czech Republic bringing an apocalypse down upon themselves when they voted to break up Czechoslovakia. The Yes camp has accused Better Together of bullying. Whatever 'bullying' means it surely doesn't mean me telling you what I think are the negative consequences of what you want to do.

What does the Bible say? Look up 'Scottish referendum' in a concordance and you won't be inundated with data to trawl through. But I've been reflecting on 1 Kings 12 where God allowed the separation of Judah and Israel in 930 B.C. This is when God’s people tore themselves in two on north/south lines; ten tribes separated to the north and kept the name Israel. Two tribes remained in the south and took the name Judah after the larger of the two. On one level it was all caused by disgruntlement about tax (nothing new there then!) but the Bible says that at a deeper level it was a consequence of the nation rejecting the Lord as King.

I know we live in a constitutional monarchy and not a theocracy. But I wonder sometimes if the slow fragmentation and weakening of the United Kingdom, with increasing unhappiness about what is fair expressed in every corner of the Union, is not entirely unrelated to our nation's turning away from its Christian heritage.

Whether the Scots vote for independence or not tomorrow, my prayer is that all the inhabitants of these islands will assent to Christ as Lord. Whoever is making the laws in parliament, in whatever city that happens to be, from whatever political affiliation, and however long the United Kingdom lasts, there is only one unshakeable Kingdom that will have no end.