Tuesday March 30th, 2021
Memorize: Luke 19:8 New King James Versions (NKJV)
« Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. »
Read: Leviticus 6:1-5 New Living Translations (NLT)
1 Then the Lord said to Moses,
2 “Suppose one of you sins against your associate and is unfaithful to the Lord.
Suppose you cheat in a deal involving a security deposit, or you steal or commit fraud,
3 or you find lost property and lie about it,
or you lie while swearing to tell the truth,
or you commit any other such sin.
4 If you have sinned in any of these ways, you are guilty.
You must give back whatever you stole,
or the money you took by extortion,
or the security deposit,
or the lost property you found,
5 or anything obtained by swearing falsely. You must make restitution by paying the full price plus an additional 20 percent to the person you have harmed.
On the same day you must present a guilt offering.
Message
Restitution means making right something you have done wrong.
If you have stolen something, you should return it now that you are saved.
Restitution is proof that you feel sorry for sins committed in the past and wish that you had not committed them in the first place.
I recall sometime ago when I was still a schoolteacher. I needed an extra mattress for a visitor so I took one from the school’s dormitory. After the visitor left, I retained it and also took it along when I was leaving the school. About seven years later, I gave my life to Christ and my conscience began to prick me.
I decided to restitute. Since I had been using it for seven years, I knew it wouldn’t be right to just return it, so I paid back double the value of the mattress to the school. Nobody told me to do that, I did it because I realized that what I did was wrong and I wanted to put things right.
You should however seek Christian counselling if you are not sure of how to go about restitution.
Don’t mind any Pastor who tells you that there is no need for restitution.
If you are genuinely born again, the Holy Spirit will not allow you rest until you have returned whatever it is you took wrongfully.
Now, if you are trying to restitute for what happened a very long time ago, you must be just.
For example, if you stole #17 when it had huge value, it would be wrong to return #17 today. Find out the equivalent of that amount in today’s market, or how much interest it would have accrued now if the owner had put it in the bank, then return the sum.
Restitution is not a religious act; it is borne out of regret for the past and a willingness to correct it.
« Suppose someone leaves money or goods with a neighbor for safekeeping, and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house. If the thief is caught, the compensation is double the value of what was stolen. »
Exodus 22:7 NLT
When someone puts something in your care and it goes missing, you should restitute, unless the owner says otherwise.
If you borrow someone’s car and it got damaged in your custody, it is your responsibility to repair it.
If you cannot afford the repair at that time, don’t act as if nothing happened; report the matter to the owner of the car, apologize and humbly ask him to help you repair it, promising to repay once you can afford it.
If the owner says you should not bother, then you are free. Like Zacchaeus in today’s memory verse, we must understand and abide by the principle of restitution.
Reflection: Is there anything the Holy Spirit keeps reminding you to restitute? Go ahead and do it immediately!
Author: Pst E. A Adeboye
Texte edited by Naomie
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