by Olawale Ogunsola
Restitution is a biblical doctrine which had helped Believers in their journey of faith. Because our God does not change, the same doctrine which helped them can equally help Christians today. It is sad that as useful and important as this doctrine is, it seems as if it is going into obscurity. Those who are supposed to teach it are either not aware of it or have forgotten it or intentionally neglect or suppress it. May the Lord rekindle the fire of those who are saddled with this responsibility to do the needful in Jesus name. Timely restitution; Judges 17:2-4 [2]One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.”“The lord bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. [3]He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” [4]So when he returned the money to his mother..." The young man realised his mistake and made necessary corrections. A curse was placed on the fellow who stole the item by the mother. To avoid bearing the course everywhere, he not only confess to stealing it, he returned it fully. That was how he rendered the curse useless. He did not engage in useless fasting that will not be acceptable to God. He did not employ the services of Prayer Worriors. He did what was needed, restitution. That was all. That is in the Old Testament. Do you know that the same was(is) applicable in the New Testament? In Luke 19:8-10, the Sculptures disclose: [8]Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” [9]Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. [10]For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Consider what the steps are here. It was not stolen. He cheated others and made restitution. Not only that he returned them, he did it four folds. That is a child of Abraham for you. Are you a child of God? If yes, go and do likewise. Do not substitute restitution with anything. Doing so is self-deception. It is also time wasting. If it is time wasting, it is life wasting. Late restitution. There is an appointed time for acceptable restitution. If it is carried out late, it will render it useless, Mathew 27 3-5. Let us consider a very popular example from the New Testament: [3]When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. [4]“I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.” [5]Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself." Mathew 27. Did the Apostle not make restitution? He did when it had no value. It did not benefit him. He gained nothing. He acted late.
Devout reader, do you know that the challenge or problem facing you may be a product of a past wrong that needs to be made right? You may not need to pray or engage anyone to pray for you. Restitution may be all you need to carry out and your life will receive the peace it requires. Stay blessed and prepared for the imminent coming of the Lord.
The Author is the set man of CTFM(WORLD OUTREACH)and Presiding Pastor of Christ Restland Gospel Church.He is a Poet and author of many books. Visit his blogsites www.4thlink.wordpress.com and www.peacelink.wordpress.com for more quality contents.
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
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