APRIL 22: RESTITUTION

Responding to the redemptive grace of God should bring a man to total repentance with no iota of guilt. However, there are times when such peaceful, joyful and guilt-free repentance requires restitution for it to be absolute. Restitution is not a strange practice or teaching in the scriptures. It is a common practice both in the Old Testament (Lev. 6:1-7) and in the New Testament which reveals genuine repentance.

Genuine repentance sometimes requires action of reconciliation or restitution. Reconciliation is restoration of relationship, while restitution is restoration of things. Restitution is a deliberate act or step by an individual to make his/her past right, relying on the grace of God. Sometimes, restitution is the missing ingredient in repentance.

Zacchaeus was a rich man (vs.2) who had amassed wealth from public goods/funds but after a night with Grace, he had a radical change of life. The case of Zacchaeus stands as an example of a man who having encountered the salvation of God, instantly resolved to make things right with God and man. He had taken and defrauded men as a Tax collector and he decided to give half of all his goods and restore things in four-fold (Luke 19:8) based on his conviction and not out of compulsion.

Sometimes, in order to appropriately respond to the Grace of God, you have to intentionally amend your ways, steps and decisions by retracing them, restoring properties and returning the things you took to the rightful owners. Restitution is encouraged when it is still possible as a fruit of repentance that God desires from us (Matt. 3:8). We should all learn and make use of the ample opportunities we have to confess our mistakes and offer to make up when the opportunities come.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I receive grace not to hold back anything that makes my confession and repentance complete.