Tuesday Open Heavens Devotional - Clean Under The Carpet?

MEMORISE: Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; Colossians 3:9.
READ: Exodus 22:10-12.

10.If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it: 11.Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good. 12.And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

MESSAGE
The advent of sin brought problems into the relationship between God and man, and in the relationship between man and his fellow man. The day you were born-again, your quarrel with God was laid to rest, but not the quarrel with men. It takes restitution to settle pending issues with men. Apostle Paul was conscious of this and that was why in Acts 24:16 he said: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." Have you settled your pending restitutions?
Many years ago, while still an unsaved school teacher, I had a visitor for whom I had to take a bed from the school dormitory. After his departure, I retained the bed, and when I eventually left the school, I took it with me. Seven years later, I gave my life to Jesus, and when I learnt about restitution, I decided to obey. I paid back to the school double the value of that bed. I felt it was not right returning it, having used it for seven years. When I did this, I had peace. Do you know that your peace is tied to those pending restitutions? In other words, even though the Lord wants your peace to be full, there is no way this can happen except you restitute your wicked ways.
Moreover, do you know that when somebody puts something in your care and it gets missing, you are expected to restitute, unless the owner specifically says you should not? If you borrowed somebody's car and damaged it while in your custody, it is your responsibility to repair it; but if you cannot afford to repair it at that time, report the matter to the owner, apologise and humbly ask him to help you repair it, promising to repay him as soon as possible. If the owner says you should not bother to settle the bill, then and only then are you free. The Christian life is a life of responsibility. You cannot afford to destroy things and hide them. Some house-helps, children or wards mistakenly destroy valuable things in the house and conceal their wrong-doing. This is wrong! The matter should be exposed so that the appropriate disciplinary measures will be meted out. That issue you swept under the carpet will one day be discovered. Right your wrongs today!

ACTION POINT: Carry out pending restitution so that you can have peace of mind.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 1-3 AND 1 THESSALONIANS 2:17-3:13.