Friday April 7, 2017

 

When you were growing up you it is possible that you heard the story of Zacchaeus. Zaccheus was known for two things. One was his stature as he was a very small man possibly a midget. Second, he was a Chief Tax Collector, which made him a very rich man. Tax Collectors were considered persona non-grata because they enriched themselves by collecting excessive and abusive taxes from the people. One day Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming to town. Since he was very short and the crowd was too large, he climbed up a tree to get a look at Jesus. When Jesus walked by and saw him, he said, “Zacchaeus! Quick come down! I must be a guest in your home today”. (Luke 19:5 NLT) After his encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus stood before Jesus and those present 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!” (Luke 19:8 NLT) Part of the process of asking for forgiveness is to:

 

Make amends and restitution whenever it is possible.

 

When you make the decision to go and apologize to others, often times it is not enough to simply say “I am sorry”. As difficult as that may be, many times “sorry” is meaningless unless you are willing to make amends and restitution whenever possible. If you have taken something return it or replace it. If you owe money pay it back even if you have to pay it a dollar a week for however long it takes. If you ruined someone’s reputation with your words do not just ask for forgiveness go back to all those people you spoke to or who heard your words and take them back. If you lied tell the truth. If you let someone else take the blame for your wrongdoing apologize to the person or persons who got the blame and accept responsibility for what you did. If you have stolen time from your job pay it back on your own time. When you apologize, always make amends and restitution whenever possible.

 

There will be instances however, when making amends is not possible. For example, if the case is that you physically or emotionally abused someone that is not something that you can pay back. You must however do your best to show that your apology is sincere because an apology without making amends or restitution is like giving a person a gift of $100.00 and asking them to give you $100.00 in exchange. That would not be a real gift just like an apology without making restitution is not really an apology.

 

As soon as Zacchaeus finished his announcement about making restitution, Jesus spoke the following words:

 

“Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” – Luke 19:19 NLT

 

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