Open Heavens 11 September 2017: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –Restitution: Evidence of Salvation I
RESTITUTION: EVIDENCE OF
SALVATION I –
Monday September 11th 2017
Memorise: And Zacchaeus stood,
and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor;
and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him
fourfold. Luke 19:8
Read: Luke 19:1-10 (KJV)
19:1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
19:2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was
the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for
the press, because he was little of stature.
19:4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to
see him: for he was to pass that way.
19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw
him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must
abide at thy house.
19:6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him
joyfully.
19:7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he
was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to
this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost.
MESSAGE:
When
you are genuinely saved, you will desire to find out what you can do for the
Lord Jesus Christ. There will be a strong desire in your heart to reciprocate
the Saviour’s gesture of love. Is it so with you? When I newly got born again,
there were quite a few people around me who got saved at about the same time
also. We all had certain characteristics in common, one of which was: anytime
there was work to be done for God, we volunteered. We did it joyfully, spending
our money, time and energy. Unfortunately, when you ask some people who claim
to be born again to do some work in the house of God today, they will charge
you double the job’s worth, while some unbelievers would just give you a normal
bill. Such people need to seek genuine salvation!
Moreover,
another sign to genuine conversion is the desire to right your wrongs. True
salvation yearns for restitution. Nobody will experience genuine salvation
without asking questions such as these: How much of my past iniquity can I
correct? How much can I salvage of the damage I have done? These questions will
come from your heart even without being taught the doctrine of restitution.
This happened to Zacchaeus in today’s Bible reading. Immediately Jesus entered his house,
Zacchaeus responded to His love with these words in Luke 19:8:
“…. Behold, Lord, the half of my
goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from my man by false
accusation, I restore him fourfold.”
Zacchaeus,
even without being instructed, decided to give 50% of his wealth to the poor,
and offered to return four times whatever he had taken from any man by false
accusations. This pleased the Lord. Indeed, restitution pleases God. When you
restore whatever you have stolen, and whenever you right your wrongs, it
becomes a testimony to be genuineness of your repentance. When you make
restitution to people you offended or cheated, it softens the ground for you to
eventually present the message of the gospel to them. If you hold back what you
stole, even after you claim to have been saved, you will retain the enmity of
those you defrauded, and because of you, they may never respond to the message
of salvation. Is there any pending restitution you need to make? Go ahead and
right your wrongs. For controversial and very weighty cases, please seek
counselling before going ahead.
Key Point
The practice of restitution
gives you a clear conscience before God and man.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons
was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and
also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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