Pay Back

 ‘If someone steals an ox or sheep and then kills or sells it, the thief must pay back five oxen for each ox stolen, and four sheep for each sheep stolen’ Ex.22:1

Restitution is an unpopular topic usually avoided by many. Restitution is an aspect of restoration that a lot of people want to overlook. The dictionary defines restitution as ‘the act of restoring to the rightful owner something that has been taken away, lost or surrendered’. I learnt about restitution from the Lord Himself, years ago. I had just gotten saved and it was as though the message ‘seed and harvest’ was following me everywhere I went. There was always the ‘anything you sow you will reap’ undertone. No one wants to reap the wrong they sow and you know that harvest is usually more than seed. So it began to trouble me and I turned to God for help. Thank God He responded. He said ‘if you do not want to reap the harvest then restitute’. Restitution simply means if you have planted corn and you don’t want to reap corn, you go back and uproot the corn. If you leave the corn in the soil, even though Jesus has washed your sins away, the corn will continue to grow. If you have taken something that is not rightfully yours but you have asked God for forgiveness. God will forgive you and cleanse you but you still have in your possession what does not belong to you. You cannot say Jesus has forgiven you and then continue to keep what isn’t yours while you watch the rightful owner do without it. Jesus says restitute; give the thing back to its rightful owner. There are certain things, of course, that we cannot restitute [Exodus 22:16-17]. For such things we must rely on the grace of God. Thank and trust God for the grace and the Blood to avail for those things. Pray for cleansing and ask God to heal the people you have hurt. Concerning the things that we can restitute, God wants us to restore them back to their rightful owners. When you truly experience Christ, you are compelled in response to restore what you have stolen. It is the right thing to do.  Restitution is putting right the things that are wrong because you have been forgiven. Restitution is a response to the grace of God.

Prayer: Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me and cleanse me. Rid me totally of the consequences of my past and lead me to restitute what which I can and should, in Jesus Name.