Restitution

Call To Prayer

Title: Restitution

By: Simon Nuhu Maina

Date: 06.09.2024

“If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor;3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall ‘restore ’ that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, 5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering”.   (Leviticus 6:1-5)

Restitution is an important Bible doctrine that most Christian congregations, assemblies, denominations and groups do not emphasize on. In our past sinful lives, we were held captive by lustful tendencies such as  misunderstanding, cheating, lying, illegal possession of things not belonging to us. Restitution is about making amends/corrections of what one has previously done unfairly or badly to another while living a life of sin, and this could be cheating, stealing, defrauding, false accusation, lying against the innocent etc. God expressly commanded the Israelites to make restitution to their “neighbours” whom they have wronged. Their neighbours in this context were not only literally immediate door neighbours; they may be colleagues, casual friends, random strangers, acquaintances, benefactors, Bosses at work etc. And today, we are the Israelites of God ( Galatians 4:28).

It is necessary that restitution is made after genuine repentance, as the Bible says ‘if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Asking God for repentance is good, but it is also recommended that we go and settle our issues with the people we treated unfairly or falsely, because we offended God and also people. This might appear difficult or practically impossible as we might have forgotten many of our past misdeeds to others. However, like it was earlier highlighted, there are major things we did in our lives that we can never forget in a hurry. Even if we sincerely forget; we can ask the Holy spirit to reveal them to us in order to amend them so that we can have a clear conscience before God and man (Acts 24:16).

Zacchaeus is a good example of such act of genuine repentance(Luke 19:8-9), he wilfully vowed to “restore” even by fourfold that which he had falsely or forcefully taken from any man. Jesus was excited and said “This day salvation has come to this house”.  God is happy when we humbly come to Him in repentance and He is happier when we try to make amends of our past with the people we wronged. May God give us the grace to restitute.

Prayer Point

Let us appreciate God for the word today. Let us also ask Him to help us with the courage and strength to reach out to the people we have wronged in the past in order to be complete indeed before God our creator so nobody will accuse us in the last day.